Lacey is 1!

Happy Birthday Lacey! It was one year ago today... just kidding I won't go in to that stuff!! But I will say that while we weren't expecting her to join our family quite as soon as she thought she should we have been very blessed to have her with us! Our first two kids were not really happy to be babies so when we found out Lacey was on the way I was alittle nervous plus well Dylan was only 8 months old. But she has been awesome, "very chill" as my sister put it! She is very go with the flow and happy most of the time. She laughs alot, which I love and it is fun to watch her personality start to shine through. She has a gleam in her eye that says "oh if only I could talk I have something to say and it is really funny!"! Happy Birthday Lace we love you!

Fall is in the Air!

I am not excited by the bone chilling temps we get here in the winter I am excited for the colder weather! It makes you want to break out some chicken noodle soup and some apple crisp! The hot chocolate can come out of hiding! But most of all the spiders have gone away and that means I don't have to walk through spiderwebs at 3 o'clock in the morning while I am walking up to doors and under trees delivering papers! Yea! It is not cool to get the creepy crawlies at 3 in the morning when it is dark and you can't actually see if something is on you! So I say come on Fall!

Tagged!

Well I have been tagged-thanks alot Miriam! So I will be a good sport and do it! 8 Favorite TV show.... 1. Big Brother 2. Survivor 3. Amazing Race 4. America's Next Top Model 5. Gilmore Girls 6. So You Think You Can Dance 7. Iron Chef 8. Food network Challenges 8 Favorite Restaurants.... 1. Texas Roadhouse 2. Applebees 3. Subway 4. The Olive Garden 5. Don Pablos 6.Mongolian Grill 7. Pizza Hut 8. Hy-Vee Chinese 8 Things that happened Yesterday.... 1. Cleaned the house 2. Did the dishes 3. Worked on my Halloween village 4. Made dinner 5. Went to the store 6. Planed Lacey b-day party 7. Talked to family 8. Watched a movie 8 Things to look forward to.... 1. No more diapers 2. No more formula 3. Halloween 4. Fall 5. My Anniversary 6. Bryan being done with school 7. My sister visiting 8. No more delivering papers! 8 things I love about fall.... 1. Halloween 2. leaves changing colors 3. smells 4. making applesauce 5. carving pumpkins 6. chicken noodle soup 7. playing in the leaves 8. watching my kids play in the leaves 8 things on my wishlist.... 1. My sister living closer 2. clean house all the time 3. a home chef 4. a 2 yr old who listens! 5. new carpet 6. a new deck 7. more date nights with Bryan 8. more hours in the day! 8 people I tag... 1. Jen H. 2. Jen B. 3. Erin W. 4. Katie M. 5. Dara 6. Maggie 7. Tara 8. Jeanette

A Holiday Change

Well as you can see I decided to change the look for October! I wasent really sure I wanted to because once I find something I like I usually keep it as is for a long time! I kinda like things to stay the same! But since Halloween is my total FAVORITE I went ahead and did a switch-er-roo!

"We are too little"

We have been working on taking reponsibility for your own messes because some kids in this house like to have fun but hate to clean it up! Anyway Abby and Dylan were playing with some puzzles and the rule is get one and then put it away before you get another one out. I thought it was pretty simple. well they decided to play with a couple of them at the same time and had quite the pile of pieces. So I told them it was time for them to pick them up. Oh my gosh the drama that came after that! Dylan is in his own little two year old world so he really didn't pay much attention to me at all. Abby started crying and said to me "This mess is too big and we are too little. We need help" Bryan's reply was "If you are big enough to make a big mess than you are big enough to pick it up!" Go Bryan! She didn't like that as you can imagine! I got Dylan to pick up part of the mess so all that was left was what was saved for Abby. But being tired and grumpy the crying and drama continued until I finally told her that it was time for bed. Well she didn't want to got to bed so that caused another whole round. I told her "I am sorry that you have to go to bed early but you don't have control of yourself so maybe tomorrow you will be able to have better control and be happier" she was like "o.k." and pretty much went in and went to sleep. Cross your fingers that sleep does her good!

The meaning of a "favorite"

We were in the car yesterday and Abby started asking me what some of my favorites were. She asked me what my favorite color was so I told her it was green. Then I asked her what her favorite color was and she said pink, purple, and red. She asked me what my favorite book was, well I can't even answer that when I ask myself that! So I told her that question was to hard I had lots and I couldn't just pick one. I asked her what her favorite book was and she said strawberry shortcake, my little pony and barbie princess books. I was begining to think that I have been mistaken in my intereptation of the word "favorite". Apparently it does not refer to one thing, I guess it means at least three! Who knew?!

Abby quotes movies!

I put on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the other day while I was cleaning. Abby and Dylan were running around would watch a minute or two and then run back and play in the play room. I walked back past the door to the playroom to put something away and I heard Dylan talking and the Abby said, quite forcefully, "Don't call me Nymphadora!" I totally started laughing! Of all the lines to pick out that is the one she says. She also walks around casting pretend spells! I think her favorite is Expecto Patronum, she likes to yell it really loud! As you can guess we are a little Harry Potter crazy at our house!

Sleepy boy!

I was going through our trip pics and just had to show this one! Poor Dylan! All the kids had played long and hard at Aunt Sarah's house. We sat down to eat and Dylan was pretty energetic, sat down and ate a few bites. Then he got down and I asked him if he was done and he said yes and went and sat on the couch. I went to look at him seriously 2 minutes later and his eyelids would fall and then shoot open and he was sliding down sideways. It was so funny! Then he couldnt open his eyes and he slide down down down. I picked him up to put him in bed and he didn't even flinch or wake up! He slept for about 13 hours and woke up in a fantastic mood! I wish I could sleep for that long and have people happy about it!

Little More!

These are a couple cute video clips we got of the kids!

Loggin hours in the car!

Last week I was able to visit my sister down in Oklahoma. It was a total blast! I think one of the things I liked most was being able to sleep all night! I know that sounds sad but with having the paper routes I don't think I have slept a full night in about two years! Anyway the drive from my house to hers is between 11 and 12 hours which of course no one, meaning Bryan and my parents, were really all that excited about my driving by myself with 3 kids! So after much prodding my Dad made the right choice and came with me. So here is where it gets fun, my Dad lives in Ohio so he drove out with my brother so I met them half-way (about 3 and 1/2 hour drive one way) picked up my dad and drove back home and then the next morning we got up and left for OK! The Kids were completely awesome in the car! Poor things put in about 18 hours in the car in two days!

Abby and Luxie were so cute when they saw each other! They haven't seen each other in over a year but the ran to each other and gave each other a big hug. Considering we had 5 kids ages 4,3,2,18 months and 11 months they all got along really well and the squabbles were spread out so that was nice! My Dad felt sorry for me and was nice enough to detail my car while we were down there. And I mean detail-cleaning, vacuuming, shampooing the whole shebang! I seriously don't think there was a spot anywhere on that car that was not wiped with some cleaner and a rag! It looks awesome! So a huge THANK YOU! to you Dad! He also was nice enough to put up the kids bugging him through out his project. Mostly Dylan looking for some guy time!

While we were down there I celebrated my birthday. We took the kids to the zoo which let me tel you is ALOT bigger than the one we have here! Abby and Dylan had fun seeing all the animals that we don't have here and my sister Sarah almost got peed on by a Rhino! I don't think many people can say that! We dressed the kids up and attempted to take some pics there too. That wasn't too successful but they were good while we were trying! Thanks again to Dad for being patient when we would stop and take a million pics! The funny thing was after all our trying to get a fun pic at the zoo we got a great one in the park across the street from Sarah's house the next day!

After the zoo, lunch and with the kids down for a nap my Dad treated my sister and I to manicures! It was a first for both of us and we had a lot of fun! Thanks Dad for letting us go and holding down the fort and to Sarah for spending my birthday with me and making my most favorite cake!

It was so much fun just to do nothing and let the kids play. They were able to be outside alot and they loved every minute of it!

Thanks Sarah for letting us invade your house!

After all the fun we had to head back home which ended up being in rain the WHOLE time! So that was stupid! Then the next day my Dad and I left to meet my Mom half-way to hand my Dad off! Thankfully Bryan was able to stay home with the kids. I just couldn't make them get back in the car! But my mother in law Jenny was nice enough to go with me so I wouldn't have to drive by myself! Thanks Jenny!

I think that about covers the trip in a nutshell but I will leave you with a super funny story! My niece Luxie likes to use words that just sound funny coming from a 3 year old! We were at the zoo and she says "this zoo is incredible!" We were eating dinner and we told the kids that when they were all done eating we would go to the park. Everyone finished except for Luxie and she just sat there staring at her burrito. Here is our conversation:

Me-"Luxie eat your burrito so we can go to the park"

L- "Aunt Allison this is disgusting to me"

Me-"You haven't even taken a bite"

L- "well I don't like it"

Me-"just eat it"

L-as she points to the burrito "there is poop in here"

Me-trying not to laugh "Luxie it is beans you have them all the time"

L- "no this is poop"

Me- "No it isn't! Do you want to go to park?"

L- "yes"

Me-" Then you need to eat"

L-"well how about I take it outside so the birds can have it?"

Me-"why don't you pretend to be a bird and eat it"

L-"well, I don't like it"

As you might have guessed she is stubborn and ended up taking a few bites and that was it. It was just so funny!

Let's Dance!

Abby had her first dance class today! She is getting so big! She absolutly loved it! I dropped Dylan and Lacey off at a friends house so I could take her by herself for the first class. We got there alittle early because she needed to get sized for her tap shoes which fortunatly they had in stock! We had a talk in the car about listening to the teacher and doing the things that she asks you to do. We also talked about how dance class is not scary and it will be tons of fun! I was alittle afraid that she wouldn't want to go in the studio by herself or that she would have a shy moment and start crying! But she was awesome! She went right in and they got started. They shut the doors and the parents were able to watch through the mirror. I was really funny because you could totally tell what they were telling the girls to do because Abby followed exactly what they said to do. If they told them to stand on the piece of tape on the floor she stood directly on the piece of tape! Here are a coupke of pictures they arent very good because they were through the mirrior and I was afraid to use the flash! So they are what they are!

Bunch of Silliness!

Today I took Abby out just the two of us to do a alittle running around. Her favorite stop I think was the Dancer's Closet. We stopped there to get her ballet shoes and a skirt for her dance class that she is starting next week! She is so excited! She has changed in and out of her leotard, skirt and shoes about 10 times this afternoon! On our way home the sun was reflecting off the car behind us, Abby had turned around and spotted it, she turned back and said "Hey the sun is driving in the car behind us! I saw it in there! I think he (apparently the sun is male!) is listening to music like me but not Strawberry Shortcake songs (her obsession) like I have those are for girls-he listens to boy music". I wasen't able to get what "boy" music was but whatever it was that is what he listens to! She is so funny! I love to be able to get a glimpse of the world through her eyes! It is quite entertaining!

A couple days ago we decided to wash the car. Usually Bryan takes it to a car wash the do-it-your-self kind cause it is easier but those things scare me so I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids if we washed it at home. It took them a short while to not freak out when ever they got water on them! But then Dylan found the hose and it was all over after that!

Play'n ball and eating sticks!

We were outside yesterday-it was absolutly beautiful and cool. It was just a really nice afternoon! Bryan was trying to teach Dylan how to bat for the first time. It was really cute. He showed him how to hold the bat and hoe to swing it. He was sort of getting the hang of it but as you can image, a two year old's attention span isn't very and he was soon distracted and looking around while Bryan was throwing the ball at him and then lost interest and went to play in the sand box!

While this was going on Lacey decided that she was hungry!

I guess we don't feed her enough!

No More Olympics

Some of you might be wondering why I haven't taken the olympic pictures off and well I am going through post-olympic depression and they make me feel better! I absolutly love the olympics and between the 3 channels that we got it on it was on seriously 24 hours a day! It was so much fun! They were absolutly spectacular! I won't bore you with all my favorite moments but I will bore you with some pics!! Since the summer games are over I guess I will just have to settle for counting down to the winter games in Vancouver! Feb. 12, 2010! Only 18 months

Sunday Afternoon

Well I don't know how you guys spend sunday afternoons but ours are spent with kids draped all over! Bryan in an effort to keep the kids out of the kitchen while I made dinner had all the kids sit with him to watch a movie. Dylan who did not take a nap snuggled up and was asleep in about 2 minutes flat! It was really funny! He was out so fast! Unfortunatly he only slept like 20 minutes so was very very grumpy the rest of the night! Oh well I guess you have to pay a price for a cute picture!

A Fun Site

I just found this site. If you like fun crafty things then you might like this one! It has fun kid things and a variety of other things! http://www.makeandtakes.com/

Monkeying Around!

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I painted Dyan's room like a jungle a while back and he has some monkeys with velcro hand that he and Abby like to play with. They were having such a fun time pretending to be monkeys I just had to take some pictures of course! The camera is never very far at our house and they know it!! You also get a glimpse of Abby's fro! Poor girl! Obviously we didn't get around to doing hair that day! Whoops!! I will say in my defence they had asked for a "jama day" so that explains the pajamas altleast!!

Two Popcicles

I bribe it's true, I admit it! Sometimes on days when the kids have had a hard day and behavior hasen't been the best they will ask for a snack. So I will ask them "well, I don't know have you been good enough for a snack?" and of course they always say "yes". So yesturday we had been outside for a while and when I said it was time to go inside I was immediatly met with opposition so I asked "do you want a popcicle?" That did it. Abby and Dylan raced inside, I asked what color and got what each of them wanted. We had the kind that are connected and that you have to break down the middle. So I break them and give them each one and Abby turned and said "Mom, I have been good enough for two" She is one smart little girl! I guess I need to switch somethings up on her!

The Grandparents Visit

Well last week Bryan and my Dad went up to the Boundry Waters for a week long canoe/camping trip with 6 other people. They had a great time and we had fun while they were gone! My mom hung out with us. The kids were so excited to have them here! It was really nice now that they are alittle older and didn't have the warm up time for grandma and grandpa! Our week was pretty busy, Breaking Dawn came out-which was totally awesome and jam packed with good stuff!-so I had to juggle my time! I was trying to read when I could but my mom and I had projects planned also. We went to the zoo with a friend who's husband and oldest son had also gone on the trip and my mother-in-law Jenny. Who honestly is, and they both will tell you this, is exactly like my Mom! This was way fun and also Dylan's first time. He was so excited to see all the animals that we talk about and learned the sounds of! It was alot of fun to watch him!

After we were done at the Zoo we went to a park for lunch and let the kids play and run around. We had beautiful weather and a great afternoon. The next day my Mom and I painted my kitchen. My poor kitchen had been sadly neglected while the other rooms in the house got all the attention! We painted a red around the bottom and a lighter tanish/peachy color and also put in a chair rail, which I cut by myself-I am kinda proud about that!! I wanted to decorate in americana style so my mom brought out all her extra americana stuff (and she has alot) for me to pick and choose from. Thank you tons Mom!!! We also used her cricut, which I totally have to get now, to do some lettering on the wall. It says "Land of the free and the home of the brave". I think it turned out completly wonderful!

So we got all that done in time for the boys to come back and dump all the camoing stuff all over!! It really wasen't all that bad. Then we have some friends at church who have a brother who has a corn field that he grows for himself and his neighbors and from the extra you can go get all that you want. Jenny and Bill, my in-laws, got a truck load and so my mom and I got about 25 dozen ears of corn to make frezzer corn. It was ALOT of corn! All together it took like 2 hours to get it all shucked and cut. So lets just say that this year my mom will really appreciate what goes into making the corn when she eats it this year!!!

We let Abby and Dylan help alittle and it was so funny because every ear that got done Dylan would yell "corn its corn!" It was like he was suprised everytime! It was way funny!

So we had fun during our visit and Abby kept asking why granda had to go and saying that her house was too far way. It was really cute. I am really greatful that the kids get to see and spend time with my parents as much as they do!

More to come!

Well the Olympics have started so my free time is limited!! I absolutly LOVE the Olympics! Bryan and my Dad went on a week long canoe trip so my Mom hung out here. We had a total blast of course! So I have pics to post from that and I have been trying to finish Breaking Dawn but since we had other projects I haven't been very successful and then with the Olympics on-well it will all get done some how!! I don't know about you guys but our house is all olympics all the time!!!!!

Photo Mosaic Meme

Alright Jeanette here you go! Some of those questions are kinda hard!!

Here's how it works: a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search. b. Using only the first page, pick an image. c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows. The Questions: 1. What is your first name? 2. What is your favorite food? 3. What high school did you go to? 4. What is your favorite color? 5. Who is your celebrity crush? 6. Favorite drink? 7. Dream vacation? 8. Favorite dessert? 9. What you want to be when you grow up? 10. What do you love most in life? 11. One Word to describe you. 12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?) Alright I am going to pass this on to- Jen H. Tara Jen B. Josie Have fun!

This is gross!

This is gross not blood and guts gross but yucky gross! My mom and I and the kids were driving in the car yesturday. Dylan started screaming and crying so I asked Abby why he was crying he said "He wants my gum" Now I knew that I hadn't given her any gum and the last time they had some was like 3 days ago. So I asked her how she had gum and she said "I put it on this" She held up and black plastic thing that she found in the back of the van. "Abby-that is really gross!" I said to her. She didn't think there was anything wrong with saving it I guess! So the gross part was we got home, I got out of the car and went to get the kids out, I opened the door, unbuckle everyone. Dylan came over to get out, I looked at him and he was smacking on Abby's-three-day-old-stayed-in-the-car-during-super-hot-days-and-high-humidity-already-chewed-gum! And he was just like "Hey look at me I have gum!" kids can be so gross!