Berry Blessed

30 Day Photography Challenge {day 12-18}

2012-02-04T10:58:00.000-06:00

Wow I've been really behind on this challenge. I should probably be done already, but life happens. A couple weeks ago I got sick with the stomach flu. My husband stayed home to take care of the kids while I stayed in bed for 2 days and on day #2 the kitchen faucet broke which led to a flood in my office. The following week our sump pump got stuck and the laundry room flooded. Yesterday we got a TON of rain and the laundry room again flooded. To sum it all up, we've been dealing with a lot of water around here.

Here's what I have thus far.

Day 12: Sunset

You can't really see the sunset from our house. This is actually the view out our bedroom window. There are too many trees and houses in the way to see it from our house. I could have gone outside down to the park around the corner to maybe get a bette view, but who has time for that?

Day 13: Yourself with 13 things

13 of our favorite children's books. We have about 5 billion more in our house. (okay, maybe that is an overexageration, but we seriously have a bookshelf in every room of our home except for the bathrooms)

Day 14: Eyes

You gotta love those baby blues.

Day 15: Silhouette

This one was difficult. I wasn't really sure how to do it. I used the door for back lighting to hopefully create a silhouette... it kind of worked?

Day 16: Long exposure

This is the waterfall in the rainforest at the zoo.

Day 17: Technology

The iPad. We use it to listen to Pandora A LOT.

Day 18: Your shoes

If you didn't guess, mine are the shoes in the middle cubby. The boys share one and Dan and I have our own. It sort of keeps the entry way organized.

Up next, something orange.

to believe

2012-02-03T08:47:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've heard of little Miss Jackie Evancho and her AMAZING voice. It gives me chills to listen to her. How does such a mature and powerful voice come from someone so small? Unbelievable. Here is a link to her singing "To Believe" which just brings tears to my eyes. I would have just embedded the video but didn't know how.

Vacation home

2012-01-27T16:31:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Wm Rowe

My husband and I recently bought a vacation home on the lake a couple hours from where we live. We wanted to make sure it had all the conveniences of our everyday home so when we went there for the weekend or even for a month or two in the summer we would still feel at home. We set up our internet through http://www.wildbluedeals.com/ so that my husband could still work from the lake house. That way we could stay longer each time and not have to worry about rushing home so he could get to work. Most of the time when we are there, I spend a lot of time reading out on the dock in the sun. I love to be outdoors, and the second story of the dock is the perfect place since we furnished it with nice lounge chairs to hang out on. There is a covered area that we put in a stereo system so we can have music when we entertain. And there is even an area that has a great grill. It is almost like an outdoor kitchen. I would absolutely love to retire here one day.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls {from scratch}

2012-01-27T16:21:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning I got up early and made cinnamon rolls for my family for breakfast. Normally cinnamon rolls in our house come from a can. However, I found this great recipe HERE that is super easy, delicious and takes less than an hour! The recipe doesn't have any yeast so you don't have to let the dough rise.I've included the recipe below but I made a few changes to the glaze. The original recipe was extremely thin so it just soaked into the rolls. I like mine to be frosted. Next time I think I'll even try a cream cheese frosting for them. Yum!

Above is what they looked like when they were finished.
And below is what they looked like after my family got ahold of them.

I'm telling you. They are yummy!

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk

Filling

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (I would only add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency)

Directions:

For the filling, in a small bowl combine softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture
Sprinkle 1/2 of the mixture over the bottom of a 9x9 pan.
In a large bowl mix together the dry ingreidants (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).
Cut in softened butter (I used my hands).
Stir in milk to form a soft dough.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
Spread the remaining filling on the rolled out dough.
Roll up the rectangle going across the short side so that you have a long log. With a sharp knife slice into 18 small rolls (12 if you want them a little bigger which is what I did).
Bake for 20-25 min at 400°F.
For glaze, combine powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl and stir until smooth

11. Once rolls are finished, drizzle on glaze and serve warm.

Enjoy!

30 Day Photography Challenge {day 8-11}

2012-01-24T10:05:00.000-06:00

Day 8: A bad habit

My almost 3 year old tends to throw fits whenever he doesn't get his way. It's pretty pathetic.

Day 9: Someone you love

My incredible husband. He doesn't like having his picture taken and said "Why don't you just take one of the boys?" My response? "Because I take pictures of them all the time." Geesh.

Day 10: Childhood Memory

I kind of posted about this earlier, but this is my necklace that I wear pretty much all the time. When I was 4 years old I had a brain tumor and while I was in the hospital my dad called Bishop Gerber to come see me. The Bishop brought me this miraculous medal that had been blessed by the Pope. When I was little I was only allowed to wear it to church on Sundays. By 7th grade it was a daily accessory.

Day 11: Something Blue

Collin's car he got from the treasure box at school. He was very proud of himself for putting the stickers on all by himself.

Next up a sunset. Too bad you can't see it from our house because of the trees and other houses. That one might have to wait...

30 Day Photography Challenge {day 2-7}

2012-01-18T10:20:00.000-06:00

Day 2: What you wore today

It was a lazy Friday (the 13th) so I wore sweats and my long sleeved WSU shirt. I always wear socks because my feet are always cold, and my necklace is an every day accessory. It was given to me by Bishop Gerber after I had a brain tumor removed when I was 4 and has been blessed by Pope John Paul II.

Day 3: Clouds

This challenge was difficult for me. From our house there isn't a lot of open sky, lots of trees in the way, and I don't have fancy camera lenses. I'll have to work on my cloud pictures in the future.

Day 4: Something Green

a laundry basket

a wash rag

I had a hard time finding something green.

Day 5: From a high angle

little man all dressed for church

Day 6: From a low angle

Like the drool all over his face? That is what a child who just enjoyed a cinnamon roll looks like.

This one doesn't show the angle as much, but I adore this picture. He had to have 2 puppies to snuggle with.

Day 7: Fruit

Tomorrow's challenge is to photograph a bad habit. I'm not sure wha I'll be taking a picture of yet.

edited

2012-01-13T09:10:00.002-06:00

I submitted a phot of my boys to a blog for photo editing. You can view it here. She does link up parties every month to give people a chance to have a photo edited by her. Someday I'll be able to do it all by myself, but for now it was fun to see what someone else did with it.

photo editing

2012-01-12T15:43:00.002-06:00

I've been having fun attempting to edit photos. All I have right now is Picasa and Picnik (and Gimp which I can't figure out). So here is a before and after picture of Dylan at about 6 months old.

Isn't he sweet?

30 day photography challenge

2012-01-12T10:47:00.000-06:00

I got the idea to do the 30 day photography challenge from my friend Marie, over at The "Linc Between Us.
I got a new camera a few months ago and love taking pictures of my boys, but this challenge will help me to broaden my photographic horizons. It's about time I learn how to really use my camera.

So here is day 1: self-portrait

Like Marie, I probably won't post every day, but may post a few days in one.
Who else would like to join us on this journey?

new hair

2012-01-06T14:36:00.000-06:00

Okay so this was just before Christmas, but I'm a little behind.
Dylan got another hair cut, and I must say, he looks adorable.

before

after

with a little gel

Now I just have to figure out the scissor cut on my own. I'm not ready to buzz cut his hair yet. It's still so baby soft.

I adore

2012-01-06T14:21:00.000-06:00

I adore these munchkins.

I am amazed every day at just ho much I love them. Who knew one person could be filled with so much love?

New Year's Party Berry Style

2012-01-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

So I posted the other day about my goals for the new year, but I forgot to tell you what we actually did to celelbrate the coming of the new year.

Most years we attend a party at some friends' house. It's always good to see everyone and hang out, but this year we decided we wanted something low key with just our family (we did a lot of running around over break).

A couple days before Ronan and I went through my appetizer cook book to pick out some delicous snacks for our evening. We decided that instead of having an actual dinner we would just snack all evening. Healthy I know, but it's one a year.

For our menu Ronan chose:

Chickan Kabobs - chicken with mushrooms and onion and a soy sauce mixture

Crackers, cheese and sausage (we got a delicious box of the Hickory Farms stuff from some good friends for Christmas, and when they were 50% off we bought another)

Cracker spread (this is so addictive!)

And in the crockpot I made BBQ smokies with a pepperoni and a meatball. Delicous!

The boys enjoyed having a picnic on the floor while watching Smurfs

Then they snuggled in their sleeping bags and watched Kung Fu Panda 2.

(We used left over pirate plates from Collin's 4th Birthday.)

It was nice to stay at home and have fun with the boys. After they went to bed Dan and I watched a couple more movies and come midnight I was half asleep and didn't even care to open the champagne! Oh well.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T20:03:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year from my family to yours!

It is hard to believe that yet another year has passed by us so quickly. If it had been like any other year we would have another baby on the way already (or actually here already) but hooray for us! We finally figured this NFP thing out! We would love to have another beautiful baby to add to our berry bunch, but for right now, our 3 beautiful boys are just enough for us.
I have always found in the past the New Year's resolutions are a waste of time. Mostly because I know in from the start that I'm not going to follow through with it. Just like every year this year I swear I'm actually going to esablish and maintain a workout routine (I'm not getting any younger and my metabolism won't last forever). But this year I'm also going to work really hard on finding a better balance between family and "work". And by work I mean all the crafting that I do and love that makes me little to no money.
There are days I feel I have absolutely no time to work on the many project piled up on my desk, and other days when I feel like I spend too much time on my projects, and not enough time with my children. This year I am going to create a schedule for myself to make sure that first and formost my children are getting all the love and attention that they deserve, but also that I have time to sew and crochet and keep the house somewhat organized. I know that creating an effective schedule will take some time, but to be the kind of mommy I want to be, and the kind of mommy that my boys deserve, I know that a balance must be obtained.
What resoutions do you have for the new year?

SATC

2011-12-25T21:53:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Wm Rowe

I have been on a serious DVR kick lately. I’ve been too busy to watch much live TV, so I’ve been recording a ton of shows. I took a quick peek at my DVR the other day and I only had about 10% empty. I knew that if I didn’t start watching my recorded shows it would stop recording my usual shows. I sat down and watched an entire block of Sex and the City one Saturday, and it was glorious. I really miss that show. I kind of went into a period of mourning when it went off the air, and I’m so excited that the Style network has started to show them on constant repeat. The only problem is that I’ve wasted entirely too many Saturday afternoons watching it when I could have been accomplishing more important things around the house. That’s a small price to pay though for a few hours of watching one of the best shows in recent history. Check out the Style network on Direct TV to see if you agree it’s a pretty awesome show.

Rock Band

2011-12-02T10:28:00.000-06:00

Over Thanksgiving Break the boys wanted to play Lego Rock Band with daddy.

So Dan dug out the drums and guitars and micorphone.

I think we have some talent on our hands.

The took turns playing each instrument and rocking out.

Ronan wants a guitar for Christmas. He's going to pee his pants when he sees what Mamaw Berry got for him.

Dylan got in on the action. He'll make a great drummer some day.

I wanted to take a video of them playing, but I can't figure out how to on my new camera. You would think turning it to video would do the trick. Time to dig out the instructions.

check it out

2011-11-22T13:38:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I talked to the owner of a local boutique called Healthy Baby Boutique about selling some of my items in her shop. Kendra, the owner, is super sweet and friendly and said she'd love to have some of my baby items. So this morning the boys and I loaded up some hats, headbands, bracelets and sNuggle Me Blankies and took them in to Healthy Baby Boutique! I'm so excited! Hopefully my items are well recieved by customers and I can start to earny a semi-regular paycheck.
For those of you that live close, be sure to stop by and check out all the goodies that Kendra has to offer!
Oh, and don't forget to "like" her on facebook.

Botanica with Friends

2011-11-01T07:40:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we went to Botanica with some friends to visit the new Children's Garden. It is amazing! There are so many cool things for the kids to explore that I'm pretty sure it could have kept them entertained all day.
There are stepping stones to cross.

Water pumps with water toys.

Musical instraments. This is one where you pour rocks into the hole and they hit little tines on the way down making fun tones.

A cave with water and paint brushes.

Dylan of course took a spill intot he river that runs through the cave.

Bridges to play on.

Bugs to sit on.

There are tons of other things to play on as well, and even dress up clothes! Hopefully in the spring we will make it back for another visit.

And of course at the end we had to visit the butterfly house.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday to decorate for. (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that my birthday is only a few days before). Someday I hope to have a beautiful mantel to decorate, but for now, I'll do what I can with what I've got.

My bats and garland were inspired by this post. I love how they turned out!
(I had more photos, like of our Mr. Potato Head pumpkin, and the huge spider web, but I can't get blogger to load them. Maybe later)
We also had our anual kids Halloween party this past weekend. The kids were all adorable in their costumes. I look forward to this party every year.

Isn't he the cutest puppy ever?

Collin wasn't happy about taking pictures.

Happy Halloween!

Who loves to travel? Not I!

2011-10-24T14:15:00.001-05:00

Posted by Virgil Burks

Going on vacation is one word—STRESSFUL! I’m really not sure why everyone loves doing it so much. Any time that I meet someone and ask about their hobbies, they automatically talk about ‘traveling.’ To be honest, I definitely don’t get it. It’s such a hassle to have to plan out the whole thing, and then you have to make sure you have everything at home in order. If your neighbors aren’t home or can’t come check on things while you’re gone, you have to make sure your house is secured. I went on vacation last year against my will because my wife wanted to see Italy, and I went to adt security system to make sure that nobody broke in while we were gone. Then it’s just so stinking expensive. By the time you do airfare for two (or three or four) and then hotels and food you NEVER spend less than $2,000 for the whole thing- even when you get a ‘deal.’ It’s ridiculous to me. I wish I could like vacationing a little more, but every trip makes me like it a little less.

it's about to get random

2011-10-24T14:12:00.000-05:00

A while back I joined a site called "Blogsvertise". This is a site in which they assign you blogging tasks and pay you for them. Some of the tasks are Guest Post tasks in which all I have to do is copy and past whatever this person has written and I get paid. Pretty easy and on my $0/year salary I figured, why not? So it's about to get random. I'll always tag my post with Guest Post when I post one, you can read them or not. It's my little way of contributing to the family budget and hopefully one day getting a bigger house!

date night

2011-10-24T08:43:00.000-05:00

I'm always looking for a way to spend time with my husband without spending a lot of money. Being a stay-at-home mom living on a single (teacher's salary) income doesn't exactly leave a lot of room for fancy date nights out. A few weeks ago I came across a blog called The Dating Divas. The blog is dedicated to date nights and keeping the romance alive in your marriage, without having to leave the house and spend tons of money.
Last week they had several different ideas but the one that caught my eye was a Ghostbusters date night. I'm a huge fan of the 80's and Dan loves the Ghostbusters so it seemed like a fitting choice. I started off by sending Dan an "invitation" to our date in the form of a news article. It looked something like this:

BerryPage Fun Times 1 1 of 1 10/24/2011

Ghostbusters to Exterminate Local Residence

The Ghostbusters are scheduled to investigate a haunting at a local residence on Friday, October 21st. The investigation/extermination is set to take place around 8:30pm, after the children have gone to sleep. Home owners stated that the ghosts must not want to scare the children as they never make an appearance until after the children are in bed.

The team stated that the appointment could last anywhere from an hour and a half to 4 hours. “We have no doubt that we can take care of the problem” stated Dr. Raymond Stantz, a team member of the Ghostbusters.

The Ghostbusters encourage others to call immediately if there is any suspicious activity. The Ghostbusters can be reached at 1-800-GHOSTLY (1-800-446-7859).

So it's a little corny, but it was fun. The plan for the date was to watch the movie while snuggling and eating some not-so-spooky snacks. I didn't really want to eat lots of junk food so the first snack I prepared was veggies and dip.

The carrots are supposed to look like fingers in the dip with fingernails made out of slice almonds.

Next I made some swamp juice which was simply a green soda (watermelon kiwi) that I found for $0.89 with some gummy fish and gummy worms in it. I don't reccomend eating the fish and worms after they have st in the soda for too long. They got all bloated and the texture made me gag!

We also had some candy and loaded potato bites.

The date was simple, cheap and fun. It was nice to spend some quality time with my husband without worrying about whether or not the kids were behaving and if we should really be spending the money.

Aunt Sue's Sugar Cookies

2011-10-12T12:18:00.000-05:00

Last week the boys and I made a batch of my Aunt Sue's Famous Sugar Cookies. For as long as I can remember she has made these cookies for basically every family get together, and they are amazing! When I got married for a wedding gift she gave me a cookie sheet, cookie cutters, a rolling pin and her cookie recipe. I've made them before, but this last time they turned out extra delicious. I don't know if it was because I mixed the dough differently, or if it was my extra sweet helpers.

Dylan and Ronan helped me mix the dough while Collin was at school and after lunch that day the 2 older boys helped me roll the dough and cut out the fun shapes. Once they were all baked and cooled we gathered around the table to frost them with our homemade glaze (another Aunt Sue classic).

We had a lot of fun frosting the cookies...

but the best part was getting to eat them!

I hope to make this a regular tradition with my boys around the holidays.

Vote for me!

2011-10-07T11:56:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I started participating in a Croceht Along over at one of my favorite blogs, Maybe Matilda. We've now finished up our cowls and have displayed them for everyone to see! Head over here, scroll towards the bottom of the post and vote for #69 (that's mine)! The top 4 win crochet patterns from some awesome sponsers. Hurry! Go vote!

Come out and see me!

2011-09-27T13:27:00.000-05:00

I've been busy, busy, buys getting ready for this...

So come out and see me!

ham

2011-09-21T05:52:00.000-05:00

I got a new camera over the weekend (insert giddy excitment here) and have been having fun taking pictures, mostly of my boys. In return, they have enjoyed cheesing for the camera and being little hams.

Collin even set this photo shoot up for him and his brothers. I had the back drop set up to take some photos for my shop and he decided that him and his brothers needed to pose with all of their blankets and best friends.

Cheese!

Gotta love the lunch on his face!

How in the world has my baby gotten so big?

Aren't they just adorable? I hope to have some time to really play with my photo editing and hopefully take some good photos. I have a friend coming over with her little girls to model for my shop this week. It will be a good learning experience. Any tips from the photographers out there?

zoo day

2011-09-01T08:49:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we took advantage of the free admission day at the zoo. They were celebrating the zoo's 40th birthday, along with the 90th birthday of Dillon's.
It was hot, and crowded, but it was free. We hadn't been to the zoo in about a year. We used to have a membership but gave that up to save a little money. Hopefully we can get a new one this next year.

This is Dave (an African Hunting Dog). Dan used to work at the zoo and had a stuffed one just like him that he gave me when we were dating.

We waited in line a really long time behind some incredibly rude people to see the tigers. I won't give you the whole story, but the parents acted like children and at one point I had a bottle of water splashed all over me without any sort of apology... the tiger is beautiful though.

Just before we left we even got a free cupcake from Dillon's. We were sweaty and tired after pushing through the crowds to see very few animals so we headed to Mamaw and Papa's house to go swimming.

We love free fun days!

a Pirate Party and a ballgame

2011-08-31T08:48:00.000-05:00

I thought I should share some photos from Collin's pirate party that we had 2 weeks ago....I'm such a bad blogger.

The cupcakes. (the brown is supposed to be an island)

My 3 Pirates

Opening gifts from the grandparents before our friends arrive

On a scavenger hunt to find the treasure map! (the scavenger hunt was actually a back up in case it rained, but we combined the 2 to make it last longer)

Looking for treasure

Found it!

It took a long time to get the pinata open. Dan and I eventually had to grab it and rip it open.

Collin didn't want a candle, but we sang to him anyhow.

The cute kids eating their cupcakes and icecream.

We had a blast!

Later that night we headed tot he Wingnuts game with family and friends.

A couple of the players read a story to the kids before the game.

Keegan and Collin...I believe they were trying to be rappers.

This kid is the picture of adorable orneriness.

Beer run. Oh, and to get me some tacos.

Cheering for the Wingnuts. He would raise his hand up and yell "woo!" It was super cute.

a baby no more, my big boy is 4!

2011-08-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

(Okay, so this is a week late... sue me)

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago I became a mommy for the first time. I hardly remember a time when I only had 1 child, let alone one teeny tiny little baby who depended on me for everything. Where has the time gone?

I remember so clearly giving birth to him, bringing him home from the hospital, nursing and rocking him, his first steps. And now...

Such a stud.

Collin,
You are such an incredible little boy. I can't even begin to tell you all the joy that you bring to my life. I love watching you play, and how you teach your little brothers new things. Though ornery and stubborn at times, you have such a good heart, and you try really hard to do what is right. I love your appetite for learning and how you constantly ask questions (and almost always remember the answer).
I love your love of music and your ability to remember the lyrics and the tune, and even kind of sing on pitch (you get that from me). Though I'm not a huge sports fanatic, I love how much you love every single sport (you get that from your daddy, though he doesn't get excited about Nascar like you do). It amazes me that you are willing to sit and just watch baseball or football on tv. I think you enjoy this mostly because it's something you can share with daddy, and that's awesome.
You love to play games and do puzzles, and your new found favorite are puzzles that are also games! You learn the rules quickly, and though you tend to have a temper when things don't go your way (sadly that probably comes from me as well) you'll still play the same games over and over and over again.
Last week you started preschool. I can't believe you are old enough to go to school. You only go 2 days a week, but that is enough for both of us. It's been a little bit of an adjustment. You've cried a couple times when I drop you off, which in turn makes me cry, but you always have fun when you are there.
You are never lacking for energy but you always take time to stop and snuggle with me. I love it. You promised me that you would still want to hang out with me, and give me hugs when you are all grown up. I hope you do because I will never outgrow snuggling with you.

Happy (belated) birthday, sweet boy! I love you so much!

Love,

Mommy

a to z

2011-08-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

I'm copying this from my friend, Marie's blog. She coppied it from her friend's blog. I just thought it looked like fun.

A. age :: twenty seven

B. bed size ::queen

C. chore you hate :: scrubbing the toilets. yuck.

D. dogs :: none.but my neighbors have them. and they bark. a lot.

E. essential start to your day :: a shower. i can't wake up without it!

F. favorite color :: it changes often. currently i'm loving green.

G. gold or silver :: silver (or white gold)

H. height :: five feet. seven inches.

I. instruments you play :: vocal chords. i sing. i've been told i sing well.

J. job title :: mommy. it's the best job in the world!

K. kids :: Collin, Ronan and Dylan.

L. live :: Kansas!

M. maiden name :: young

N. nicknames :: sammy

O. overnight hospital stays :: um... 7 when I was 4, 2 with my first baby, 1 with my 2nd baby, 2 when he had pnemonia, and 1 with my 3rd baby. so.... 13

P. pet peeve :: dirty dishes put in the sink or on the counter right next to the empty dish washer.

Q. quote ::

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain. But he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way"
-unknown

R. righty or lefty :: righty

S. siblings :: 2 sisters. i'm in the middle.

T. time you wake up :: between 6 and 6:30.

U. university attended :: Wichita State University

V. vegetables you dislike: creamed corn.

W. what makes you run late :: i generally plan ahead because i hate being late, but if anything it's getting 3 kids ready.

X. x-rays you’ve had :: dental, ankle for many sprains, wrist for a sprain, back, finger (my sister slammed it in a door when i was 1 and broke it, it's still crooked), do MRI's count? I've had a lot of those for a brain tumor I had at age 4.

Y. yummy food :: salad. i really like a good salad.

Z. zoo animal favorite :: giraffes. they're beautiful.

40 Years - Photo Booth Fun

2011-08-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

For the party we wanted to get a photo booth, but they are WAY expensive. So instead, we set up our own photo booth. In one of the spare rooms (we had the party at my brother in law's house, we don't have any spare rooms) we set up our camera on the tripod with a bunch of props and some chairs.

I had to force some of the relatives in, but I think they all had fun. My boys loved it for sure!

Posing with Mamaw and Pap

Uncle Tim and Dylan

Uncle Tim and Ronan

Collin going solo.

Ronan and Collin (they took a bunch but I thought I'd spare you and show the best one)

Ronan going Solo.

Ronan and Uncle Rob.

40 Years

2011-08-09T09:55:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend we threw a party for my husband's parents. Their anniversary was in June and they have been married for 40 years. (we would have thrown the party sooner, but we seriously had no free weekends until now!) 40 years! Can you believe it? It's so rare these days for couples to stay together for that long.

We are so blessed to have such a good example of love in our family.

I borrowed my dad's camera to take pictures during the party (my camera was being used for the photo booth which you'll see in the next post). His camera is so much nicer than mine. The pictures just come out so clear. I don't think I want to give it back!

Here are a few shots of my family from the day.

Ronan snuggling with daddy.

Dylan playing with Dan's cousin's little boy, Camden. They are only a few months apart.

Me with my Dylee Bug!

Our family

Ronan and Collin

My beautifully decorated table

The banner I made.

Dylan trying out the monkey ears

Dyl snoozing on Papa

My delicious cupcakes and flags I made.

My little ham. He cheeses every time the camera comes out. Later I'll have to do an entire post about him and his many goofy faces. The kid cracks me up!

Tiffany

2011-08-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

I was rummaging through some boxes of my old stuff the other day looking for one of my favorite things from my childhood.

Isn't she precious?

I was needing someone to model some of my new headbands and hats and I knew she'd model without complaint :)

I got this sweet dolly for my 7th birthday and fell in love! I took her with me everywhere I went. I changed her diaper, gave her bottles and rocked her. She even had her own cradle to lay in (which I still have). I remember even getting diapers (real Pampers diapers) for her for Christmas one year. I was so excited! Seriously, what 7 year old gets excited about getting diapers for Christmas?

For the past several years she's been in a box under our stairs, but now she hangs out with me downstairs when I'm crafting.

I don't let my boys play with her because I havet his fear of her beind drawn on or her arms being ripped off. I don't think I could bear it. Hopefully one day I'll have a little girl of my own to pass her down to. Until then, she's going to model headbands and hats.

consignment chairs

2011-08-04T14:03:00.000-05:00

*I love when I have a whole post typed up and it magically vanishes.....

Last week I helped out with a consignment sale here in town. I consigned some of our baby stuff that we don't need right now and don't have room to store. It's a good opportunity for me to clear out some clutter, get out of the house, hang out with other moms, and get some good deals on "new" stuff for the boys.

One of the consignors I checked in brought in 2 matching child size recliner chairs to sell. We've been wanting to get some for the boys, but to buy them brand new is a good $100. We don't have that kind of money just lying around, so when these came in I got really excited!

I got a great deal on them, and I'm not talking $30 or even $20 each. She was selling them for only $10 each! The boys love them and it's so nice to have extra chairs for family movie night. One of us usually ends up on the floor cause the kids take over the couch.

It's hard to see the chairs because my beautiful children are blocking them, but they're great!

Giveaway!

2011-07-16T11:48:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check out the giveaway I'm hosting on my other blog. You could win this stunning set of earrings with a matching necklace!

Click HERE to enter!

up to my eyeballs in cupcakes

2011-07-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

My baby sister got married this past week. I don't have any pictures (hopefully I'll get some soon) but she looked beautiful.
What I do have pictures of are the 110 cupcakes that I made for the big event. Have I ever mentioned my love of baking? I really do love it. And I'm not just talking about how much I love to eat my creations. Cause I do. I have a major sweet tooth.

My sister doesn't actually like cake, but she loves pumpkin pie. The top tier of her cake is actually a pumpkin pie baked inside a white almond cake. She says it was amazing.

Getting all the cupcakes done was kind of stressful, mostly because I knew how important they were, but I really did have fun making them. Once she gets her pictures back I'll post some of the day. All my boys got to wear pink!

anniversary trip

2011-07-03T11:33:00.000-05:00

On Friday Dan and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. It's so hard to believe it's been 5 years already! We had been saving up for the last year to take a trip, just the 2 of us to celebrate. It was really hard to leave my adorable boys, but we had a ton of fun!
Our first stop was the Argosy Casino, Hotel and Spa.

The hotel was amazing!
Here is the view of our room as you enter.

The entryway.

The bathroom. Look at that huge shower!

Bathroom sink.

My husband checking out what the hotel offers while lounging on the huge, comfy bed.

Light in the bathroom.

The first thing we did at the hotel was to check out the spa. Dan got a 30 minute massage, while I got a facial. So wonderful!
After the spa we got ready to meet my high school girlfriends for dinner. I hadn't seen them in years! The last time I saw my friend Sarah was actually at our wedding. We can't let it go that long again girls!

Aren't they beautiful? I wish I lived closer to them. Especially since Kristin (far right) is going to be having a baby soon!)

Here's my handsom hubby and I all dressed up for dinner and the casino.

With our hotel package we got a champagne and cheese tray.

the cheese wasn't the best but it was aslo midnight before we got it.

he's a great bar tender.

We did some ~~shopping~~ browsing in some classy areas that we couldn't afford on Friday, and then headed to an outlet mall that had TONS of stores. We spent most of the day walking around, shopping and just enjoying being together. We bought a few things for ourselves, some gifts for the boys and then headed to check in at our hotel for the 2nd night. We went to the dinner, and then came back and relaxed in the hot tub until all of the unsupervised children bombarded us.

Seriously people watch your children! Taking a family vacation means spending time with your family. Not leaving your minors to annoy other adults!

The next morning we were so tuckerd out that we ate breakfast and then ordered a movie in our room. Around noon we packed up and headed home.

We had a lot of fun, but it is so nice to be home and have my babies in my arms again. I'm a nervous wreck without them!

5 years

2011-07-01T06:00:00.007-05:00

Five years ago today I married my best friend, and life has been more amazing every day since.

My dearest husband,

Thank you for always being my rock. The one I know I can depend on, and the one who believes in me. You are my best friend and the most amazing father. Thank you for loving me for who I am, even when it's me being a little crazy.

There are so many things that I love about you.

These are just a few.

Happy anniversay, love. Thank you for the past 5 years. I can't wait to spend the next 75 with you.

it's new to us

2011-06-20T15:27:00.000-05:00

We got a "new" table and chairs the other day.

I say "new" becuase it actually came from a garage sale. My parents are the ones who found it and picked it up. (We're paying them back of course)

It's bigger, and shinier and so much more convenient than our old table.

We can all fit around it with some room to spare.

The only downfall, which is also a plus, is that it's real wood. Having little ones this means we have to be careful not to let water sit on it or it will ruin the table.

So I made some pretty little fabric coasters for us to put our glasses on. They are washable so when my children undoubtedly spill stuff all over them, I can just throw them in the wash.

Notice the adorable little teacup in the middle?

I bought it to hide the boys' wash rags that we use when cleaning up after meals. I hate using paper towels because it's so wasteful so each child gets a washrag that we generally use for the day (unless it's just discusting afte a meal). I rinse it and put it back on their chair to use for the next meal/snack that day. However, since our chairs are wooden now I can't drape the rags over the back anymore. So this cute little thing hides the rags and keeps the table and chairs from getting water rings. Clever? I thought so.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there, but especially to my own daddy, and my amazing husband.

He's been an amazing daddy since day 1!

This picture was before Dylan, but it's still one of my favorites.

(sorry for the poor photo. I'm on my laptop and had to copy and paste from another place)

He's such an amazing daddy. My boys are so very lucky to have him, as am I.

And of course my dad. He's been an incredible influence in my life and I am so lucky to have him. As are my boys. They love their Papa! (and sadly I can't find any pictures of them together)

Happy Father's Day!

{Giveaway}

2011-06-17T16:46:00.000-05:00

I'm hosting another giveaway on my etsy blog. Go check it out here!
You could win an adorable pair of baby leg warmers! Even if you don't have a little one to wear them, you probably know someone who does!

my sister's wedding

2011-06-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

My older sister, Sabrina, got married over the weekend in a simple, beautiful ceremony in my parent's backyard. I don't have any pictures of the ceremony (I didn't get my camera out) but I do have pictures of her cake. It's nothing super impressive, but I made it. It's the first time I've ever done a cake of this importance so I was a little stressed out.

Just tilt your head to the right a little so that it looks straight :)

I got to try my hand at gumpast flowers for the first time.... I need to practice.

Overall I think it turned out nice. Hopefully she was pleased with it. She says she was, but what was she going to say to my face after I had been working on it for 8 hours?

Congratulations, Sabrina and Brian! We love you!

who's that boy?

2011-06-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

My Dylee Bug got his hair cut for the fist time last night.

Seriously. Who is that kid? I can't believe how much it changed the way he looks!

Here are some more photos from the big event.

After lunch earlier in the day. I think he enjoyed it.

Modeling a headband for me.

Sitting in the big chair, ready to go!

Look at all that hair!

The finished product. Isn't he handsome?

He was just too cute this morning so I had to snap another photo.

He doesn't look like a little baby anymore. *sigh*

a bug safari

2011-06-04T12:13:00.000-05:00

Since Dylan was a baby we have called him Dylee Bug, so for his 1st birthday we decided to have a bug themed party. We invited family and a few friends to help us celebrate by going on a bug safari!

These are the invitations that I made.

The birthday boy!

His fabulous bug cupcakes!

All of the kids got a bug jar with a magnifying glass in it to find bugs.

We put candy bugs (in wrappers of course) and rubber bugs all over the yard for the kids to pick up.

Dylan wasn't quite sure what to think of all the extra people in our backyard.

We turned on the Elmo water mat for the kids to play in (it was such a hot, gorgeous day!) and the boys had to show off their muscles.

I think Dylan really liked the water!

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the cake at first, but once he got a taste, he was good to go.

The kids got to enjoy ice cream as well. Dylan didn't even care that it was cold, just that it was sweet!

After opening some gifts we enjoyed a BBQ with the family. Dylan even got to try his first hotdog.

He loved it!

Then it was on to opening all the gifts from the grandparents. I think we have enough toys now (as if we didn't already!)

His birthday was a perfect day. I just can't believe it's already been and gone.

Giveaway!

2011-06-03T09:48:00.000-05:00

I'm having a giveaway on my other blog. Be sure to check it out! I'll be featuring other crafters on Fridays and doing lots of giveaways along with it. Be sure to enter for your chance to win some great items!

Happy Birthday, Dylee Bug!

2011-05-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that an entire year has gone by since the day I first held you in my arms. You have changed our lives (for the better) in so many ways. You bring so much joy to my world.

Later today we will celebrate your birthday with a few friends and family. You'll get to have cake for the first time, and open lots of presants that I probably won't be able to find a place for. At the end of the day, I'll nurse you for the last time. It's bittersweet. I'm ready to be done, but not ready to let you grow up.

These days you are full of so much personality! You dance and sing whenever you hear music, or if I simply say "Dylee, can you dance?" You are incredible.

Your favorite word is "okay". I must say it a lot for it to be one of your first words, but sometimes you say it so clear that if I'm not looking at you I think it was one of your brothers. You're such a smart boy.

One week before your birthday you finally took 2 steps and can now take about 8. I've been trying to get you to walk for a while, but you have your own schedule. There is no hurry to grow up. When I stand you to make you walk, you get a huge grin on your face and lunge at me. It's your favorite game. You giggle with delight as you hit my hands and quickly push yourself up for more. You are my sweet, silly little boy.

Next week we are going to get your hair cut for the first time (aside from when I trimmed your bangs in April because you couldn't see). I love your long, shaggy, surfer boy hair. It's soft, and keeps you looking like a baby. At the back of your neck there are some wispy curls. I love them! I will be so sad when we cut them off because I am almost positive that they will not grow back. You're the handsomest 1 year old ever! No matter what your hair looks like!

*We go to the doctor tomorrow and will get all of your stats then. I think you weigh about 21 pounds. You wear size 4 diapers, though size 3 would probably still fit, the 4's keep you from leaking at night.

*You only take your pacifier when you are going to sleep and have been doing this for over a month.

*You still love your blankie and cannot sleep without it.

*You are really into playing with cars. They make you giggle.

* Mommy is still your favorite person.

* You wear size 3 shoes, but we need to find them in wide. 4's are too big, but regular 3's are almost too narrow.

* You wear mostly 12 month clothing though some or your shorts are wierd and you cans till wear 6 months in them.

* You love to play in the water. Bathtime, swimming pool, sprinkler, water table. It doesn't matter. You love water.

You are such an amazing ~~baby~~ little boy. You love your brothers and follow them everywhere. I look forward to celebrating all of your future birthdays, but try not to grow up too fast. I love you!

fun in the sun

2011-05-24T13:05:00.001-05:00

This weekend we spent a lot of time having fun in the sun. It was so beautiful on Sunday that we Dan took Collin out to teach him how to finally pedal his bike. He got this bike for his 2nd birthday and just now has the motivation to actually try.

Can you tell that my husband is a teacher?

Here is a video of Collin riding his bike.

It was so hot out that I filled the water table up and let the boys have at it.

I'm thinking that Dylan enjoyed it.

Then Dan decided that since it was hot, and the yard needed watered anyhow (notice how we have very little grass?) that he would just turn the sprinkler on for the boys.

We bought this sprinkler a couple years ago. It shoots water out the middle, and fromt he bottom. You put balls into the clear part which is like a twisty slide and they shoot out the middle with the water. On Sunday we must have had it at the perfect angle, with just the right amount of water pressure because the balls would stay susbended in the hair for nearly 20 seconds. It was awesome.

I'm so ready for summer so that we can play like this every day!

he blogs

2011-05-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

My husband used to make fun of me for blogging. Then he joked about starting his own blog. Then he sort of joked about starting a blog and writing movie reviews. A few days ago, he started a blog. Welcome to the blog world, honey!

He would probably kill me if he knew I had this picture up. Good thing he doesn't really read my blog :)

He's no expert on movies, but he pays attention to detail, enjoys writing, and loves a good discussion. Go ahead, argue with him. He would totally love it!

2011-05-18T08:31:00.000-05:00

While I was feeding Dylan yogurt for breakfast this morning he started saying "more" and signing it witout me even prompting him. It was adorable! So I ran and grabbed the camera, and of course he decided he was no longer going to sign it. I did capture him saying it though. He's become so vocal lately. Mostly babbling of course, but he does say "more" "okay" and "go" along with the usual mama and dada. I love it!

Isn't he so sweet?

my pride and joy

2011-05-15T15:02:00.000-05:00

I took these pictures a week or so ago when I was playing with the boys in the backyard. Sometimes I take way too many pictures because I can't get over how incredible my kids are. I sit out back and watch them playing like tiny little people (which I realize they are but it still amazes me).

Ronan looking serious on the swings

Dyl's first time getting to really play in the sandbox...

he loved it

My 3 boys playing so nice together

My big boy, Collin. He can be crazy, but he's so helpful and loving

I don't know what I would do without these boys. I am so thankful to be able to stay home with them, even if it means money is tight. There are times when I sit and watch them and my heart swells with so much pride and love that I almost cry. I know, I know. I'm such a girl. But seriously, they're amazing.

what every mother fears

2011-05-13T12:16:00.001-05:00

On Thursdays I watch my friend's little girl for a few hours. Yesterday I walked back into the bedroom where they were playing to find this...

Thank God they are young!
On the other hand, earlier that morning I found my 3 boys like this...

I'm so glad they love each other.

another great giveaway!

2011-05-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

My friend over at The "Linc" Between Us is doing another great giveaway. She is celebrating having 100 followers (isn't that amazing? I'd be celebrating to if 100 people cared what I had to say!) and this time she's giving away something that she made herself!

Isn't this necklace beautiful? She's thinking about opening her own Etsy shop. I think she would do really well with one.

All you have to do to enter is head over to her blog, become a follower, and leave her a comment. It's that simple.

So go already!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

I hope that all you mommies had a fantastic Mother's Day and that your children spoiled you! My boys bought me a gift certificate to a new place called Color Me Mine. I'm very excited to go with the boys to use it. Color Me Mine is a shop where you pick out a piece (bowl, plate, cup....some kind of pottery) and paint it however you want. They then fire it for you so that you can take it home! I think I'm going to have the boys make me a coffee mug.
For my mom and mother in law this year we wanted to do a personalized gift.
Here is a picture of what it looks like....

Adorable, right? No, I didn't make it. I met a lady at the consignment sale I worked over spring break who makes these. Her and her twin sister have a site called Doublemint Designs. They have a lot of different styles to choose from and the price was great.
I think that the grandmas really liked their gift. It's the perfect size to fit on their desk at work.

online shopping made easy

2011-05-03T17:26:00.001-05:00

I love shopping online. There isn’t the stress of finding a parking place, or having to get 3 children in and out of the car at every stop. It’s so much easier to compare prices from the comfort of my own home using my computer. I can bookmark pages to easily come back to them as soon as I’ve made my decision. There are a million different sites out there to shop on and I was recently introduced to a new one by my sister.

Become.com is a one-stop shop for nearly all of your shopping needs. You can simply type in what you’re looking for and the site brings up a list of everything meeting your search criteria. It lists items from different stores in the same category so that you can compare prices right there! No more having to bounce from site to site, or store to store! How is it that they made online shopping even easier?

You can find tons of great things here, and at great prices. Everything from Hello Kitty Car Accessories to Lawn Mowers can be found in one place. In the market for a new digital camera? Check out their listings for Nikon cameras. You’ll never have to spend hours upon hours shopping for that perfect gift again!

a belated birthday wish

2011-05-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

Dan celebrated his 28th birthday last weekend (the 23rd) but with it being Easter weekend and all I haven't had time to post about it. Over all I think he had a good day.
We started out the morning by bringing Dan breakfast in bed.

We figured it wouldn't really be fun for him to sit in bed and eat alone, so we all joined in. Needless to say, the sheets had to be washed afterwards. My kids aren't exactly known for being neat.

Aren't my boys so handsome?

Dan then opened his birthday gift from the boys. The new Harry Potter on BluRay. I think he liked it.

My husband is cool.
We spent the day just hanging out, trying to keep Dan from having to do too many chores. For dinner that night we had chicken fajitas, Mexican rice and homemade guacamole followed by birthday "cake". Dan requested a giant cookie instead, and I must say, I make one amazing giant cookie.

Happy Belated Birthday, Love! You're amazing. I hope you enjoyed your ~~day~~ week(s).
I We love you!

Great Savings with Groupon

2011-04-27T08:57:00.004-05:00

If you haven't heard of Groupon already, you're in for a treat. I discovered this site via facebook months ago and am in LOVE with it! Groupon is a site that has a new deal every day, and when I say deal, I mean it. The first one I ever bought we got as a Christmas gift for Dan's dad. He is a golfer and would spend every day on the course if given the chance. Several months before Christmas Groupon had a deal for half off of green fees and cart rental for 2 at a nearby golf course. Even though Christmas was still a ways off, I purchased it. What rocks about this is that it can then stay in my account and wait until I print it off. I don't have to find a place to keep it and hope that I remember where it is come time to use it. The other really great thing is that most often the deal doesn't expire for months. You may only have 1 day to purchase the deal, but you have several months to use it.
For my birthday last year a friend bought me a massage at 40% off. AMAZING! Massages are something I love, but won't purchase for myself. It took me a good 2-3 months to finally use my gift, and even then I still had another 5 until it was going to expire.
If you're into deals, out Groupon. Sign up for your area and be prepared to save big!

Mother's Day Giveaways!

2011-04-19T21:04:00.001-05:00

Over at Natalie's Sentiments she's having a week of giveaways. I'm a little late in getting this up, so you better hurry!

Giveaways include a gift certificate for some amazing hand crafted jewelry from LuxAdornments on etsy, a Gourmet Gift Basket.com, 2 months worth of diapers from Huggies, a gift certificate for Dali Decals, and a gift certificate from Magpie Lovely.

All giveaways end on the 21st at midnight, so hurry!

Loveable Labels Giveaway

2011-04-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs that I follow "Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife" is hosting a giveaway for return address labels from Loveable Labels! I hate having to write my return address on envelopes and generally don't even put our name because it takes extra time. Lazy. I know. So when I saw this giveaway I had to enter (she always has great giveaways) and thought all my readers might like the opportunity to enter as well. You can find the giveaway here. All the labels you get to choose from are super cute!

today

2011-04-15T21:01:00.000-05:00

Today I enrolled my baby boy in preschool. How can it be that he is old enough to go off to school without me by his side?

We weren't planning on sending him to preschool. He was going to stay home with me for another year. I was going to do daycare again to make money. He was going to be socialized here in the comfort of our home under my supervision. *sigh* He's growing up too fast.
Okay, so it's only 2 mornings a week, but still. It's gonna be hard. Collin, however, is very excited. After all, he gets to eat snack at school every day.
This is going to be really good for him, and me. 2 mornings a week I'll only have 2 children which means it will be way easier to run to the grocery store. Like I said, we weren't planning on sending him next year, but an opportunity for a "free" 2 day program opened up and we decided to grab it.
Now that he's going to school I won't be doing daycare because I have to be able to take him to school and pick him up. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to have my days open for playdates and crafting during nap time, I just have to figure out another way to make money now. So you should go buy things from my etsy store. Or check out my blog and donate, or advertise. :)

my new favorite cookbook!

2011-04-14T13:04:00.000-05:00

I got this cookbook from a friend, and have fallen in love with it! I always enjoy getting new cookbooks and trying new recipes, but generally I only end up making a couple of recipes out of the book. I have had this cookbook for just a couple of weeks and have already made several things. And the added bonus? The entire family has enjoyed the things I've made!

Last week I made the "No-Fry Doughnuts"
Yum! They took a little bit of time because you use yiest and have to let it rise, but it was well worth it.

Can you see the yummy glaze dripping off? Delicious!

We've also made the "Spicey Honey Pretzels", "Herbed Tortillas" "Herbed Tuna Sandwiches" (a nice change for a Friday night during lent), and "Ham and Apricot Crepes" which I changed up a bit because we're not a fan of apricots.
Tomorrow night we are going to attempt "Salmon-Stuffed Potatoes". I can't wait!

proud

2011-04-09T12:58:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday the boys colored pictures to say thank you to a lady Dan teaches with. She gave us her son's old soccer goal that he no longer uses. The boys love it and have already had fun playing with it. When coloring we told Collin he should write his name on his picture so that Trish knew who it was from. First he practiced on a blank piece of paper. No examples to copy. I must say he did a pretty darn good job! I knew that he already knew all his letters and knew how to spell his name, but we haven't really worked much on writing. I have a feeling he's going to be my child who learns things rather quickly in school. You know, that kid we all hated who never had to study but still got A's. Indeed, I. Am. Proud.

baseball books

2011-04-06T06:56:00.001-05:00

With baseball season underway, we've been reading lots of baseball books at our house. My boys love sports of any kind. Collin even likes to watch Nascar, which I'm not really sure I can call a sport, but that's not the point. Books about baseball. Dan brought a couple books home from school to share with the boys, and they LOVE them.

The books, Dino Baseball and Bats at the Ballgame, are written by different authors, but in a similar style. The boys love to listen to the stories and wait in anticipation to find out who is going to win the baseball game. My favorite part is that the books rhyme so at times Collin can help me finish a sentance. It also helps that he wants to read them over and over again so he practically has them memorized!

I just love how much the boys enjoy reading books, and having stories read to them. Ronan's attention span isn't quite as long, but I think Collin would sit and let me read books to him all day. And I would, if it weren't for having to cook, clean, and keep the Dylinator from attacking!

10 months

2011-04-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

I took a few photos of Dylan yesterday. He's becoming quite handsom.

In this photo he was smiling at Daddy for turningon his favorite song, "Magic" by B.O.B.

Healthy Heros!

2011-04-03T13:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we took the 2 older boys to see Elmo's Healthy Heros at the Intrust Bank Arena. We had so. much. fun. I was a little worried that Ronan wouldn't like it because we met Elmo over spring break and he was terrified. Our seats yesterday, however, were all the way at the top so there was no fear of the red furry monster trying to hug him.

We got our tickets to the show for free for allowing a friend to do a fire safety talk. Way worth it to inform our family of potential fire hazards in our home, even without the tickets.

Daddy and his boys

Mommy and the boys

Super Grover! He lost his superness :(

The dancing Irish sheep were Dan's favorite

Super Grover found his superness! All he needed to do was sleep, eat healthy, and take a bath!

yummy cookies

2011-03-31T10:47:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago my awesome mother in-law bought me this cook book

so today the boys and I tried a recipe from it. We chose to make "Ernie's Peanut Butter & Banana Cookies. (please ignore the poor photos, my camera is doing wierd things today)

Yum! We had a lot of fun doing this together, and I know we will enjoy eating them later.

The cook book has a ton of delicious sounding recipes in it, I'm sure we'll be making more soon. Cookies don't last long in our house!

spring break splash

2011-03-28T09:28:00.000-05:00

We were very thankful for such beautiful weather the first part of our spring break. The boys got to spend lots of time playing outside and even got to enjoy playing in the water table. Dylan enjoyed the water most of all.

He's just so stinkin' cute!

giveaway!!!

2011-03-23T08:36:00.001-05:00

It's giveaway time! My friend Marie, at The "Linc" Between Us, contacted me a week or so ago and aked if I would be interested in doing a giveaway with an item from my etsy shop. I was thrilled that she thought of me and decided to offer one of my infant/toddler headbands for the giveaway. Check out her blog for details on the giveaway. (I must say she did a great job setting this up!) You can get up to 4 entries and you have one week to enter, so hury over!

in about an hour

2011-03-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I purchased towels with the intent of making hooded towels for my boys. Last night I finally took the time to make them. It took about an hour to make 3 hooded towels and 6 wash mits. Don't my boys look adorable in them?

You can read more about how I made them here.

signs of spring

2011-03-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

ice cream on the porch

bare feet outside

newly bloomed flowers

my adorable children playing in the backyard

Let's hope it decides to stick around this time.

9 months

2011-03-09T13:14:00.003-06:00

Yay! Pictures!

My precious Dylee Bug is now 9 months old. How can it be that in 3 months he will be a year old? My kids are growing up way too fast for my liking.

(look at those cute teeth! and that ornery face!)

Dylan is a bundle of joy, 95% of the time. He's still working on those gosh darn top teeth. His gums are still so swollen that his top lip sticks out a little, and now one side of it looked bruised for a while but have calmed down. Poor baby.

His sleep pattern at night is still iffy. He has nights where he sleeps till 4:30 or even 5:30, but then he'll have a night where he is up 2 or 3 times. However, he naps really well. Most mornings he sleeps for about and hour and a half, a good 2 hours in the afternoon and a short 30-45 minute evening nap. We've tried to give that last one up, but the poor kid can't do it. Today I layed him down for nap wide awake and he crashed in minutes.

We went to the doctor today (finally) and he weighed in at 18.6 pounds and is in the 12th percentile. He first measured 26 inches puting him at less than 5%, but then the doctor remeasured and he was 28inches but did not give me a percentile.

He is crawling all over the place, pulling up and walking along the furniture. Climbing up the bottom 2 steps (and when I'm behind him he can go all the way up) and basically getting into everything. His favorite toys are anything that his brothers are playing with at the time. What fun would it be to play with the toys mommy actually put out for him? Sadly with all his curiosity comes lots of bumps and bruises. Generally they happen as he tries to walk from one piece of furniture to another, but occasionally his brothers play a part. Thankfully he has not yet fallen off the steps.

Dyl still nurses every 4-5 hours, but is beginning to eat more food. We generally do pureed fruit and oatmeal in the morning, finger food at lunch (cheerios, puffs, peas, carrots, banana or mango) and pureed veggie and rice and fruit and oatmeal at dinner. His new favorite food is mango. I bought some when they were on sale last week and he LOVES it. I started by just giving him some really small pieces but now have some stored in the freezer. He's gotten really good at using his pincer grasp to pick up food and is fairly content to sit and feed himself.

95% of the time Dylan prefers mommy. I love that he loves me so much, but there are times in the evening when I wish he would be more content hanging out with daddy so I could have a little time without someone crawling all over me. However, I know that these days are going to fly by and there will undoubtedly come a day when none of my sweet boys want to snuggle their mommy. So for now, I'll take it.

(snuggling with Mamaw)

Dylan is still wearing size 3 diapers but has recently moved up into some size 12month clothing. 9 month stuff still fits, unless it is jumper type outift with the shirt and pants all conncected. Apparently my little man is long.

I find myself in awe of him (and all my boys) on a daily basis. I just can't get over how incredibly blessed we are. Dyl has the cutest laugh, and on occasion sounds like sheep. He giggles when we sing "monomana. do dooo do do do. momomana. do do do do." And has been recently trying to clap. He's not there yet, but I know when he gets it it's going to be adorable.

(attacking his big brother)

We've also been working on signing. He thinks it's great stuff when I sign to him, but hasn't gotten the motion down himself. partly because I haven't been consistent. We're working on "more" for the most part but I've been trying to teach some signs to Ronan and Collin as well.

Only 3 months until his first birthday. Sigh. I better get to working on his party!

Party Time!

2011-02-28T10:02:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we celebrated Ronan's 2nd birthday with a small party of friends and family. Ronan really loves Blue's Clues, which was a very fun theme for his party.

I made invitations that looked like the Handy Dandy Notebook.

They took a bit of work, but I think it was worth it in the end.

To prepare for the party we decorated the house with blue streamers and balloons and lots of Blue's friends.

I made blue puppy ears for all of our friends to wear.

And crearted a few games to keep the kids busy.

We played "Pin the Flag on Mailbox"

Beanbag toss with Shovel and Pail. The kids each got to take a beanbag home. Yes, I made them.

Dressed up the Felt Friends

and colored pictures of Blue and her friends.

After games we ate cupcakes and icecream before winding down the party.

We had so much fun with all of our friends and are so thankful that they all came to play!

After our friends left the family stucck around for gifts and dinner.

Dan made a pot of chili and one of chicken and noodle soup (sorry, no pictures). It was fabulous!

Happy Birthday, Ronan!

2011-02-27T19:24:00.001-06:00

This post is as little late, but....

Happy Birthday Ronan! It's hard to believe how quickly 2 years has flown by. You are a joy in our lives in so many ways, Even though you are able to throw the most incredible tantrums, you make up for it with cuteness and kisses. Here is a rundown of some of the things you are doing these days:

*You are talking. non. stop. I find it hard to believe that you talk as well as you do for your age, but even more incredible that you have the energy to talk nearly every second of the day.

*You can name most of your colors (red, blue, yellow, orange, green, pink) but if asked what color something is you almost always reply "um... I don't know."

*You can recite the entire alphabet.

*You can count to 5, and sometimes to 10.

*You LOVE to play in the play kitchen making all sorts of yummy things for mommy to eat.

*You take one nap a day. I put you down at 1:30, usually without much of a fight, and you sleep until around 4:00 most days.

*You are in a toddler bed now, but sometimes like to sleep in Collin's bed. He doesn't always let you though because you kick a lot in your sleep.

*Collin is your best friend. You follow him, copy him and fight with him like any good brother would. I love to watch you boys play together and hope that you will always be such good friends.

*You have become a picky eater. Chocolate is always a yes, but you are getting better at accepting that you have to eat your dinner before you can have dessert.

*When you throw a fit, I take you to your room and tell you that you can come out when you are done. It usually takes less than a minute and you are by my side giving me hugs and kisses.

*You love to sing.

*Listening to you say your prayers absolutely melts my heart.

You have made our lives better in so many ways. Sometimes I can't help but smile as I watch you and your brothers play. You are incredible, sweet, smart, funny, goofy and lovable. Happy birthday my middle monkey. But please, stop growing up so fast.

(stay tuned for photos and a rundown of Ronan's super awesome Blue's Clues party!)

Treasury

2011-02-13T11:50:00.000-06:00

I just got word this morning that a set of burp rags I recently listed on Etsy are being featured in a Treasury! I'm so excited! You can check out the treasury here.

I've also started a blog just for my Etsy stuff. Want to keep tabs on what's happening with my shop? Be sure to head over to my Sammy Jayne's Blog and become a follower!

Sammy Jayne's deal

2011-02-02T18:35:00.003-06:00

Check out my shop blog at http://www.sammyjaynes.blogspot.com/ for an exclusive February deal for my readers and facebook fans!

8 months

2011-02-01T07:39:00.002-06:00

My sweet Dylee Bug is 8 months old (as of yesterday). It's hard to believe that it has already been that long since he was born. My babies are growing up too fast!
Dylan has really started to really develop a personality and keeps everyone entertained. The last few days he has giggled every time someone says "beep-beep!" It's adorable.

He is now full on crawling, pulling himself to standing, and sitting himself up. When we play downstairs he often tries to climb the stairs and can get one knee up on the bottom step. This usually results in him falling and crying for about 2 seconds. He is FINALLY sleeping through the night (for the most part). We've started a new routine with him of having Dan take him to his room and rock him before bed. We always did this with Collin and he always slept great. That combined with Motrin for his teeth at bedtime has really helped! His top gums are super swollen and this set of teeth seems to really be kicking his butt. He's able go through the day without medicine, aside from the occasional swipe of orajel, but at night time he's awake every couple of hours without it. Hopefully those teeth will pop through soon!

Dylan loves to be right in the middle of whatever his brothers are doing. It doesn't matter how many toys I get out for him to play with, whatever his brothers have is always more fun. I often hear Collin or Ronan saying "Dylee!!! Mommy! Will you come move Dylan?" Which of course makes Dyl laugh. Ornery squirt!

I know I'm his mommy so I'm going to be biased, but seriously, this kid is awesome. He's incredibly sweet and loving (though he's become somewhat of a mama's boy and tend to cry for daddy) and giggles at everything. He loves to snuggle, yet takes naps in his bed without a problem (most of the time).

He is an absolute joy in our lives.

baby food

2011-01-23T17:45:00.000-06:00

With each of my boys I have enjoyed making homemade baby food. With Collin I did it really well in the beginning and then tappered off. With Ronan I did some but he threw everything up in the beginning and didn't really get to eat much until he was ready for finger foods. With Dylan however, I'm stocking up and ready to go!

So to make my baby food, in case you were on the edge of your seat waiting, I simply steam the vegetables, or for apples cook them in the crockpot,

puree them in my Magic Bullet, or blender for bigger batches,

and spread the puree into icecube trays to freeze. (I bought trays with lids at Dillon's)

When the food is frozen I pop them out and put them into labeled freezer bags for later.

So easy! Each cube is approximately 1 oz of food. So far I have made peas, carrots, green beans, zucchini and applesauce. We haven't tried the applesauce yet, and are going to try green beans tonight. So far he hates carrots and peas but loves the zucchini, especially when I mix it with oatmeal. Wouldn't be my first pick, but he loves it and last night..... he FINALLY slept through the night. Dan had to rock him for about 3 minutes in the middle of the night, but otherwise he slept from 9:30-7:00. Awesome! Hopefully it continues because it was the first time I had slept through the night in nearly 3 years!

Our Christmas Letter

2010-12-21T20:36:00.005-06:00

Dear Friends and Family,

It's hard to believe that 2010 is already drawing to a close. Once again, the year has brought many blessings for myself and our family. The biggest blessing of the year came in a 7 lb 2 oz bundle on May 31st that we like to call Dylee Pickles (Dylan Lawrence). Dyl is now 6 1/2 months old and brings so much joy to our lives. He is constantly on the go, rolling and scooting all over the house,but loves playing in his jumper most of all. Dylan is always full of smiles his brothers adore him, and he in turn is constantly in awe of them.

Ronan is now 22 months old. He is able to say his entire alphabet, count to 10 and talks well beyond his years. Him being able to tell us what he wants/needs is nice, but whispering is still somewhat lost on him and it can make church seem rather lengthy early Sunday mornings. Ronan is full of energy, and is my sweety snuggly boy. Even though he is very independent these days he still loves to be held and rocked and would dance in mommy's arms all day if I let him.

Collin is now 3 years old. He is 100% potty trained, knows all of his shapes (even cresent and octagon!) colors, numbers, letters and a little more than half of his letter sounds. He loves to learn new things and is forever seeking new adventures. Though very independent and somewhat ornery, Collin has proved to be the best big brother Ronan and Dylan could ask for. He is very helpful around the house and loves to play with his brothers. His new thing is to say "I don't need you mommy" when he is going down for nap or going to use the restroom, but I know he still needs me when he surprises me with a hug and an "I love you."

Dan continues to teach first grade in Maize and still rocks at being an amazing husband/father. Our boys adore him and I can see in Dylee's eyes that he cannot wait until he is old enough to wrestle Daddy like his brothers. In the past Dan has always coached wrestling this time of year, but decided to take a year of from the demanding sport to spend more time with us. He is going to try to help out once a week, but didn't want to feel obligated 3 nights a week plus every Saturday.

Now for me. I am in my second year of being a stay-at-home mom, and couldn't be more thankful. Our boys do so many cute and crazy things during the day that I can't even imagine not being here for every one of them. I am still watching a few other children to supplament our income which keeps me very busy, and sometimes leaves me feeling guilty for using the phrase "mommy is busy" so many times in one day. However, this allows me to be with my children every day, and for that I am thankful. Being home all day every day with rarely leaving the house for more than church on Sunday can sometimes make me a little stir crazy. Dan has been wonderful at letting me have some time to myself to work on sewing projects, items for my Etsy shop or even just running to the grocery store to get away for a while.

The fun never stops around the Berry house, and we wouldn't change it for the world.

Wishing you all a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Berry's

a new place to play

2010-12-16T15:17:00.003-06:00

Collin and Ronan are best friends, which can make my life easier at times. The other night while Dan was at the library tutoring and I was cooking dinner, I went back to check on the boys in their room to find this.

The toy chest itself isn't new, but they have just recently discoved how fun it is to play inside of it.

6 months

2010-12-08T21:12:00.005-06:00

Today I took Dyl to the doctor for his 6 month check up. The boy is a stud. He weighed in at 17 lbs 5 oz and is in the 60th percentile. His height is in the 30th and his Berry noggin is in the 80th. My boys have big heads to make room for all them brains!
At this point in time Dyl is working on getting his first tooth. It's just starting to poke through. He can get up on all fours and rock, but army crawls like a champ ALL OVER the house. He also enjoys rolling everywhere. He loves to play in his jumper. The kid can go 30 minutes non stop. I can't help but laugh at him whith his chunky little thighs hanging out the bottom.
Dylan's sleep routine has gotten better. He's napping in his crib really well, and sleeps 4-5 hours at a time at night. He eats every 4 hours, and really only cries if he's super hungry, overly tired, or hurt. I try not to let him get hurt, but let's face it, he has 2 older brothers that LOVE him and want him to be big enough to wrestle.

we're the chipmunks

2010-11-02T13:01:00.001-05:00

For Halloween, my sweet boys dressed up as Alvin and the Chipmunks.
I must say, they looked pretty stinkin cute!

Doesn't he make the perfect Simon?

Happy Halloween!

Klausmeyer Dairy Farm

2010-10-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

Today we visited Klausmeyer Dairy Farm with some friends. We all had a good time, but the boys especially enjoyed the outing. They got to bottle feed a calf, feed goats, sheep and cows, watch pig races, take a hay ride and pick out a pumpkin. I'm so $15 and came home with 3 pumpkins. I call that a good deal.

cowtown

2010-09-25T17:36:00.002-05:00

Today was National Museum Day, and being lovers of free things, we cashed in on some free tickets to the Old Cowtown Museum today. I had never been there before and was excited for the experience, but more so was excited to spend the day, outside of the house, doing something with my family. And bonus, it was FREE. Did I mention that we love free things? I would share some amazing pictures with you of my adorable children walking through the saloon, pumping water from the well, or studying in the one room school house, but alas, I forgot my camera. I swear I get more forgetful the more children I have. However, I do have many new photos of the boys that I have taken, and promise to post them soon. Right now I am in the rocking chair snuggling a sleeping Dylan who has decided that a nap in his bed just isn't going to happen today.

Oh, the point of this post: Cowtown was a fun experience and I highly recomend taking your family to explore the past. When the boys are a little older we'll go back. And next time, I'll take my camera.

family pictures

2010-09-11T12:25:00.002-05:00

We had family pictures taken at the end of August and they are online for viewing. It is going to be so hard to choose which ones to buy. The shoot was quick, but she got some great shots. In the past we have always gone to Portrait Innovations but this time we got to go "fancy" as Collin would say. Dan has taught 2 of the photographer's kids and for Christmas last year she gave us a gift certificate for a free shoot and an 11x14. A pretty awesome gift, but of course I have to buy more than that, and being on a tight budget is going to make choosing that much harder. To view the pictures, click on the link below, go to 'clients' and enter password 'berry'.
Photography by Christa Danielle
If you have a really small screen, as I do on my laptop, you will not be able to see the buttons at the bottom to find 'clients'.
Enjoy oohing and aweing over my beautiful family!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Collin!

2010-08-20T08:55:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday my sweet baby boy turned 3 years old. How has 3 years gone by already? I remember everything about his birth as though it was yesterday. It's hard to believe that he my little baby, once so small and dependent on his mommy, is now so big and idependant.

He's grown so much in the last year, though not destined to be tall. He wears mostly 3T now but can still fit into most of his 2T and even has a pair of shorts that are 18 months. My kids have tiny hinies.

Collin is my puzzle wiz. He does 24 piece puzzles all by himself, and even has a couple 48 piece puzzles that he can do.

He loves picture finds such as "Where's Waldo?" and loves to sing and dance.

He knows all the letters of the alphabet, upper and lower case, and is beginning to know the letter sounds.

He knows all of his colors, counts consistently to 12, knows his basic shapes including octagon.

He is fully potty trained with very few accidents and even sleeps in his underwear now. He is getting good at dressing himself and even picks out his own clothes some days. (I have to just let it be when he doesn't match cause it's not worth the fight.)

Collin can be a feisty, stubborn little dude, but mostly he is my big helper who loves to give hugs, play with his brothers, and help me make cookies.

I love every minute of watching him grown and learn and am so thankful that I get to spend my days at home with him. In just 2 short years he'll be off to school.....sigh.

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet Collin! I love you!

Surprise!

2010-08-09T21:48:00.005-05:00

The theme at iheartfaces this week is Surprise! I thought this picture was perfect. It expresses how surprised and delighted Collin was with the way our Banana Chip Cookies turned out.

Priceless.

what moms can't do

2010-07-26T11:39:00.009-05:00

There is a really cute book series that my boys love and one of them is titled "What Moms Can't Do". This book is all about the things we do every day that the kids just HAVE to help with. I'm sure that every mom can relate. In the last year or so I have learned that I can not make cookies without help from Collin. Or without making a mess.

On Saturday Collin helped me make Banana Chip Cookies. They were super yummy and we had a lot of fun making them.

First my super cute helper mixed the batter.

Then said helper taste tested the batter. (This is a very important step.)

Next he made sure that there was sufficient mess to keep mommy busy cleaning for a while.

We put the batter on the tray.Cooked them to perfection. And most importantly, tested the finished product.

I think they were a hit.

the countdown begins

2010-07-22T20:11:00.005-05:00

So 2 weeks from Monday, we're back to reality. Dan doesn't actually go back until Tuesday the 10th, but everyone else, including myself, begin work on the 9th. That means no more sleeping in until 8:00am every morning. No more Berry Family Fun Day each Thursday. No more having my husband home with us every day. I'm somewhat ready to get back into more of a routine, but a little frightened at the thought of being home alone with 5-6 kids every day. Collin being the oldest. Yikes! Lord give me strength!

On the bright side, next week is Dan's last week working at the Y. He is more than ready to be done with it. That means he'll have one whole week of nothing to do before school starts. Nothing but paint the shed and lay new flooring in the kitchen anyhow. :)

But I don't like to think about returning to work, or all the work that has to be done around the house. Instead, let's all think about my super cute children.

weeks 2-6

2010-07-15T11:10:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that Dylan is already 6 weeks old! Actually 6 weeks and 3 days, but who's counting?
I don't know where his 1 week picture is. Maybe on the other camera disk, but here are pictures for weeks 2 - 6.

2 weeks
3 weeks

4 weeks

1 month

5 weeks

6 weeks

I'll try to get better about posting pictures, but no promises. Life with 3 boys under the age of 3 is BUSY!

our newest miracle

2010-06-07T20:34:00.006-05:00

One week ago today we welcomed the newest member of our family into our lives. Even though he's been a huge part of our lives for months now, Dylan Lawrence is finally here and has already brought immense joy into our home.

So here's the short on how his arrival went.

Last Sunday evening Dan and I sat down to watch a movie (Lakeview Terrace). It was the first time in months that I was able to sit through an entire movie without having to pause it to use the restroom. As soon as the movie was over (about 10:30pm) I headed upstairs to the bathroom and I kid you not, my water broke while I was sitting on the toilet. Great visual, I know. But seriously, how lucky is that? I was a little unsure at first because it felt like he had punched my bladder and something popped, but a couple steps out of the room and the continual leakage made me certain. Knowing how quickly things went with my first 2 children we went ahead and called Dan's mom even though contractions were still far apart. We finished gathering the last few things for our bag and after Grandma arrived, we headed to St. Joseph's Hospital. Because it was late we had to check in through the ER. After being taken upstairs they checked out the situation to make sure my water had really broken (even though it was pretty obvious) and then moved me to a labor and delivery room. Dan and I placed bets as to what time we though he'd be here by (we both lost horribly) and began the waiting game. Several hours and many laps around the maternity floor lead to little change and after about 7 hours the doctor (not my OB but the one filling in for her) wanted to start pitosin. Fortunately my amazing nurse could tell that I wasn't thrilled about the idea and convinced the doctor to let us try some natural measures first. After another 3 hours my contractions were still 10 minutes apart and hadn't intensified at all. So... we started the pitosin. It still took several more hours, and let me tell you, the pitosin made my contractions twice as strong and I never want to have to use it again, but at 11:45 am we were finally ready.

At straight up noon on May 31st, we welcomed our precious baby boy into the world. He weighed 7lbs 2.3 oz and was 19 inches long. He resembles is brothers, but definitely has his own features as well.

Dylan has taken to nursing like a champ and though I'm sore, it is so rewarding to sit and nurse my baby in the way God intended. By the time we left the hospital Dylan had lost 5oz, which is perfectly normal, but a week later he has gained it back plus another 5oz. I guess I now know that he is indeed eating enough.

It's amazing how much, and how quickly such a small person can change your life. Even more amazing is how the love I have for my children continues to grow. I don't have to divide my love among them giving less to my first 2 children to make room for the new baby. The love I have is simply multiplied.

Collin LOVES to hold Dylan.
Dressed and ready to go home

Trying out his cradle

My 3 perfect boys

100 and more

2010-05-02T20:28:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since I updated my blog and posted pictures of my precious children. It's about time, right? I thouht so. Here are some pics of things that happened in April.

My children got goggles for Easter (to play in the pool at Mama and Papa's house of course) and had to wear them in the bathtub.

My husband turned 27 on the 23rd and I made him an amazing 2 layer triple fudge cake with Reeces Pieces in the middle.

The boys enjoyed the cake thoroughly.

We made some music in the kitchen.

Painted sticks to decorate a pencil can for Papa's birthday.

Played dressup...nothing makes a mommy more proud than to see her little boy wear a purple skirt.

Collin hung out with is "wife". They fight like an old married couple anyhow :)

And every Tuesday we've been having a playdate with a friend.

It's been so nice to have some adult interaction every Tuesday. I still have my daycare kiddos, but my friend Denise and her little girl (Collin's "wife") come over and play. We go outside and to the park when the weather is nice and eat picnic lunches.

In other news: I'm now 35 weeks pregnant and counting down. I'm starting to feel fat and swollen and ready for this baby to be here. Only 4 more weeks of daycare and then my baby boy is free to come. My "nesting" goes in spurts. One (okay maybe 2 days) day I scrubbed the entire kitchen floor on my hads and knees because I didn't feel like the mop did a good enough job. Wow was I tired after that! I've been wiping down cabinet doors and counter tops like nobody's business and disinfecting every inch of my house. I will not bring my baby home to a germy disorganized house!

Oh, and this is my 100th blog post. Yay! I feel like I should have a giveaway to celebrate. But I have nothing to give away, so I'll just say "Thank you to all my faithful readers! I hope you enjoy watching my beautifl babies grow in pictures 1/100th as much as I enjoy actually being here for it."

I don't want my children to be happy

2010-03-25T13:52:00.003-05:00

I found this post through a friend and had to share. The words are so true. We should all want this for our children.

spring break rewind

2010-03-23T15:09:00.002-05:00

Spring Break has come and gone. So sad. I don't have photos to upload at the moment (cause I'm lazy and don't want to load them on my computer at the moment) but we had an awesome spring break.
My boys (that includes Dan) and I got to spend some quality time together, and Dan and I got some time alone without the children. That rarely happens.
Tuesday I got a day with some of my girlfriends just hanging out, eating and chatting. Wednesday Dan and I drove to Tulsa to visit some friends and eat at Joe's Crab Shack. And Thursday was by far the BEST DAY EVER!
In the morning we took the boys to the zoo. Both of them LOVED feeding the giraffes! After that we ate lunch at Cinnamon's Deli. Yum! We went home, the boys took good naps, and then we played outside. While I worked on starting dinner we heard the ice cream truck and ran to buy a ginormous popcicle. The boys didn't even eat 1/4 of it. My parents came over for dinner that evening and stayed to play with the boys. We had grilled pizza and for desert, raspberry jello cake. Dan went to wrestling practice that evening and my mom stayed to help clean up and bathe the boys while my dad cut down some bushes in the backyard. We spent most of the day with the windows open and got to enjoy the fresh warm air. Of course the snow came the next day, but seriously. THE BEST DAY EVER! I wish we had time for more days like that.
The rest of break was good, and coming back to reality was harsh. But, only a few months of school left, then we'll have a new baby and a summer to enjoy. Yay!

Oh have I mentioned that Collin is potty trained? He's such a super stud. Wearing his underwear all day (except for the pull up at nap time just to be safe) and he's been dry through nearly every nap for more than a week. Not to mention he's dry through the night. Having daycare kids back set him back yesterday, but today he's back to being awesome. He got to pick out new underpants over spring break, and today Dan is bringing a small fish tank home for him to have on his dresser (since there is no longer a changing pad up there). I'm so proud of my little man. He amazes me more and more each day!

Happy Birthday Ronan!

2010-02-23T21:11:00.004-06:00

I can't even believe that an entire year has gone by so quickly. My sweet baby Ronan is big 1 year old today. It is amazing how much your life changes when you have children, and how the love in your heart can expand. Ronan has been such a blessing and a joy in our lives. He is so loving and fun and I can't imagine not having him. He starts my day off right when I get him out of bed and he lays his head on my shoulder and pats my back. Such a snuggler.

We started our day off right this morning with chocolate chip pancakes and chocolate milk for breakfast.
Then Collin gave Ronan his gift. 2 Busy Town books.

After daddy got home we took a trip to the store and let Ronan pick out an Elmo doll to snuggle with. Collin always has Manny and doesn't like to share. Now Ronan has his own snuggle toy. When we got home, Ronan opened his gifts while the pizza cooked.

This is the cake that I made for him. The kid LOVES Elmo! We have a tradition of not letting our children have sweets until their first birthday. This cake was entirely for Ronan, aside from the small slice he shared with Collin.

I think it's safe to say he enjoyed his cake!

And this is what it looked like just before he finished.

Time to get clean!

What a fun day!

Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!

happy love day

2010-02-14T20:46:00.003-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
Today I am blessed to have been with my wonderful husband for 5 years. We haven't been married that long, but today marks the day the we "officially" started dating 5 years ago. I knew from the very beginning that he is who I wanted to spend my life with.
This afternoon we went to lunch together, without the boys, and then finished up shopping for Ronan's birthday.

Earlier in the week I baked some delicious mini cupcakes for Dan to take to school and share with the staff. The cupcakes were straberry flavored with chocolate frosting and candy toppings. Quite delicious if I do say so myself. As Dan ran out the door in a hurry to get to a meeting, he slipped on some ice and lost more than half the cupcakes. Ooops. He felt way worse about it than I was dissapointed.

In preparation for Valentine's Day I made a centerpiece for our dinner table out of an old tissue box.

And the boys helped me make gifts for the grandparents. I let the boys finger paint some different colored paper which I then cut into hearts, and attatched to green pipe cleaners to look like flowers. Collin helped my decorate old formula cans to use as the flower pots. We placed the flowers inside and added some candy to hold them in place. I also pasted their picture to one heart to add a personal touch.

My gift from the boys for Valentine's Day was 2 new fish for our tank.

Poor Jazz was getting lonely.

The pretty black fish is one of our new friends, Oliver, or Ollie for short.

This is Bumblebee. Our other new friend. Collin got to name him.
The boys love to stare at the fish. Ronan stands there yelling "Bumbee!" and "Azz!" and "Aahh!"

For our Valentine's dinner I made linguini with tomato and mushroom sauce and heart shaped turkey meatballs.

Dan wanted to make sure that I got his picture in too. Don't you like his pretty pink shirt?The boys devoured the food.

I hope everyone had an equally enjoyable Valentine's Day!

Collin speak

2010-02-12T22:43:00.002-06:00

This evening while helping Collin put his pants back on after using the potty, he patted the sides of my boobs and said "I like your booboos Mommy."
My reaction went from speachless with my mouth wide open to laughing histarically which of course only caused him to start giggling and repeat "I like your booboos!"
Oh how I love my Collin and the silly things he says.

snow fun

2010-02-01T17:26:00.006-06:00

Collin enjoyed watching the beautiful snow fall on our snow day Friday.He even got to get all bundled up and play in the snow with Daddy.

Do you like Dan's sweet Harry Potter-looking scarf? I totally made that.Poor Ronan just had to watch from the window. Next year he can get out there in it.

On Saturday my parents came over and Papa played in the snow with Collin. They made snow angels...and threw snow balls...

and shoveled the driveway.Ronan again had to watch from the window.

I Heart Faces - Texture Challenge

2010-01-26T15:23:00.005-06:00

The challenge this week at i heart faces is to showcase a photo that encorperates texture, whether it be natural texture of texture that you added. My entry is a picture of my sweet Ronan at bathtime. Both of my boys LOVE bubbles which makes a perfect texture in this photo. I enhanced the texture of the bubbles by sharpening all of the bubble edges with my photo program as best I could while still leaving his face as the focal point. After all, the site is called i heart "faces", not bubbles :)