What Next?

A is for Apples!

2011-10-03T15:07:00.005-04:00

I do not get any credit for any of this yummy goodness. Troy did it all while I was working on a project for Thea's class (why do they assign homework to the parents...:-). AND the kids took all the pictures too!!!

Connor Prairie and Cousins

2011-09-26T12:24:00.011-04:00

While the boys (Troy , Nolan, and Kevin) were in Nebraska for "some big football game", the girls (Raelynn, Brya, Thea, Robin, Amanda, and Alayna) got together for a big day at Connor Prairie. We allowed Flint to hang out with us because he sometimes likes to put headbands on.....:-)

The pics loaded in a weird messed up order but I'm too lazy to fix it all so I'll just put captions on each one. For those of you who don't know what Connor Prairie is.....YOU are missing out!.......it is an awesome living history "museum", prairie town, civil war reenactment and much more. Also, we just happened to be there on the "country fair" weekend so we got in a few extra activities as well.

Outside of the general store (end of day....can you tell?)

Thea working the old pump

Flint thinks that it is hard work to keep up with the girls.

Helping out in prairie town.

Brya watching the little piggies (that were less than a week old)

Feeding the mama pigs

We had some apple slushies (YUM) at the apple store

My Adorable Alayna Loolee

Some "little" tractor......

Love this little guy.....glad he is not quite ready to go off with the big boys!

Isn't she beautiful? She loves having her cousins around.

Little Boy/Big Toy

Tug of War - I think Flint won!!

this was part of the "country fair"

trying out the "flying" trapeze

walking the "high" wire

riding a {I have no idea} with 3 wheels and lots of pedals and seats

dressing up civil war era style

camping out

water play-sorry if the bare chest offends the ladies but Momma only brought one shirt

the MOST easy-going cousin an auntie could wish for ..... oh and she rocking a new pair of glasses too!

sweet cousin time

lining up to help fight off "Morgan's Riders"

rolling bandages for the wounded

Brya making friends with a horse {shocking}

skipping at the start of the day....can you tell?

All but me...of course....just the way I like it! :-)

No Catch Up Yet

2011-06-29T14:38:00.003-04:00

Well.......nobody can accuse me of wasting too much time updating my blog!!! I realize that I have a lot to catch up on...

first birthday
9th birthday
end of school programs
vacation, vacation, vacation

......but I don't have time today so I'll just leave you with this................

THE KIDS ARE GROWING {LIKE} WEEDS!!

The only thing I'll miss about winter......

2011-03-23T21:27:00.001-04:00

MY SWEET LITTLE BOY IN HIS ADORABLE LITTLE SNOW HATS!!

Thank you Grandma!

2011-03-14T04:18:00.003-04:00

Flint says enthusiastically "Thanks Grandma"

Flint's Mom says sarcastically "Thanks Mom" :-)

Snow

2011-02-05T15:17:00.005-05:00

Seems that everyone is posting about snow, so I'll add our pics to the mix......

First we had an ice storm. School was cancelled for 3 days.

Daddy gave the kiddos rides in the back yard. Wheeeeeee

This is Brya and Thea "trying" to play at the swing set. It was quite a chore to even walk around.

Our driveway still isn't clear of the ice.

Blindingly beautiful at times!

Then today we got another 4 or so inches......

Ok spring....anytime now!!

You can tell where Flint has been....

2011-02-05T12:57:00.002-05:00

At least he is no longer trying to eat the dog food. Now he just puts all the dry food into Truffie's water. I can not tell you how many times I have pulled him away from the dog food.......hundreds??more??

In baby land book shelves are outlawed, so every time Flint sees a neat book shelf......all the books must come off. Did the other kids do this? Probably.......

Mixed Emotion

2011-01-28T14:40:00.003-05:00

Love this pic....and LOVE this girl!

2011-01-22T13:43:00.001-05:00

Thea....waiting for big sis and big brother at piano lessons. She likes to clean the dash with a wipe and then she took a little rest.

A gate for the shower?

2011-01-21T08:14:00.002-05:00

Whenever Flint hears the shower he comes running......well crawling....and comes right into the shower. Most times I just leave him in there to play while I get dressed. He loves it in there!!

Rainbow

2011-01-11T20:05:00.004-05:00

I love ORGANIZED hair boxes!!!

wonder how long it will last? :-)

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T08:45:00.004-05:00

Dad calls this "the toilet seat"

Just say "Go Colts" and Flint starts clapping.

Just had to post this to annoy the Seahawk (Dad) and Bears (Nolan) fans. :-) I'm sure this shirt will be taken off while Dad is with Flint today. :-)

Raspberries

2010-12-26T19:44:00.003-05:00

I love how he closes his eyes to get that last bit of air out!! :-)

Brya Quote

2010-12-24T17:02:00.001-05:00

"I was just throwing a snowball at the ground and it just happened that Nolan was right where I aimed"

One room done......

2010-12-15T10:10:00.003-05:00

Remember long ago I was painting stripes (or rather having Troy paint the stripes) in our downstairs bathroom?.....well those stripes didn't work out so well so we painted over them and wondered what to do next. It's OK if you don't remember.......it was only 2 1/2 years ago!! :-) Anyway, I think we found what works. Do you like? Now on to another room...maybe it won't take so long next time!

Thanksgiving, Secret Missions and all things F

2010-12-15T10:04:00.021-05:00

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend. Kevin, Robin, Amanda and Alayna came for the long weekend so everyone was happy! There was plenty of food, football, floor hockey, Flint holding.........

There were several different parts to the weekend to I'll try to divide them up into sections......

[The Dinner]

Our table was blessed with: (starting from the left and up and around the table) Flint, Thea, Alayna, Nolan, Troy, Kevin, Robin, Amanda, Brya, Pat, Chester, Roger, Sue, Verlaine, Linda, Raelynn.

Brya showing outrage for the treatment of the turkey. She did eat some though..... (nice outfit)

What is Thanksgiving without the pies? Yum!

Thea tasting some of those yummy pies!

Kevin is great at following directions! I asked him to peel potatoes for me, enough to fill a couple pans. And he did!!........20 pounds worth (for 16 people mind you). Needless to say we really did have potatoes coming out of our ears......so Kevin made leftsa on Saturday morning. They were really good.

[BCF-Best Cousins Forever]

The kids have come up with a club called B.C.F. It also includes cousins from out west (see later in this post). It is cute to see them come up with different projects and mail things to each other.

Dressed in Sunday Best

I LOVE this picture of Amanda and Brya. Please, please stay this close girls!!!

Knot-a-Quilt was only one of the MANY projects this weekend.

[Mission]

The West Division of BCF sent out a secret mission for the kids to work on over the weekend. A Scavenger Hunt!! (The pictures were taken by the kids)

Olives and Cider.....of course!

[The Big Game]

BCF sponsored a floor hockey game between the BCF Club and THE DADS. Guess who let who win??

The program that the Moms were given.

Too many bosses!

Way to play goalie Alayna!!

The high five that never happened.

Got one by Dad!

Huddle (do they call it that in hockey?)

[Extra]

Flint's First French Fry

Nolan watching the Husky game.

Kevin and Troy got to go to a Louisville game at the new arena.

Looks like we had the perfect weekend..right??.......perfect timing, I guess. Our washing machine decided to stop spinning our clothes on Wednesday morning so Troy got to brave the Black Friday crowds and get a new one. I ran out of dish cloths and dish towels but we survived by using rags. Pretty....

Brya has been into walking laps in our backyard. She did it for like 3 weeks straight. She talked her cousins into coming out in the rain with her.

That's all.......whew, got this posted before Christmas!! :-)

Little Bits

2010-09-27T10:19:00.002-04:00

Brya - Brya has suddenly discovered that she likes football. She even stood up to the boys on the playground (with the teachers help) so she could play during recess. She's even into watching the highlights with Troy.

Nolan - The other day I picked up "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book from the library. Nolan said "I'm surprised you let us get this book." I asked "why, what is wrong with the book?". Nolan replied "It says DIARRHEA in the title"

Thea - Thea asked if I will "needle" her a wedding dress...just like Chelsea's.

Flint - What do you call it when your baby is NOT crawling BUT can get wherever he wants to go by rolling, schooching, stretching, reaching, rocking, pulling, elbowing, etc. Whatever that is...that is what Flint is doing. We are off to go buy baby gates!

Windows to the soul.....

2010-09-23T19:36:00.003-04:00

My Brown Eyed Beauty and Beast

Beautiful Blue Eyes......we always get asked "how did he end up with blue eyes?"

Could be blue
Could be green
Could be brown
Could be hazel
Depends on the day
Depends on the mood
Depends on what she is wearing

No mattter the color, I just love looking at 'em.

Money Song

2010-09-06T06:47:00.004-04:00

Auntie RoCherra requested this song that Nolan learned in kindergarten.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T15:10:00.002-04:00

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy in the world!! Hope you enjoy the Louis L'Amour books....your collection is almost complete!

Flint's First Dip

2010-06-20T11:55:00.002-04:00

At first he cried when we dipped him toes in the water but after a few minutes he fussed when we took him out of the water. Hope he learns to like the pool....we plan on living there this summer!! :-)

Pretty in Pink

2010-06-20T11:47:00.004-04:00

Big thanks to Amy B for this adorable chair she MADE for Thea.......isn't it cute?

What????

2010-06-04T22:12:00.002-04:00

Overheard today from one of the girls as they were playing upstairs. "Ok let's PRETEND we are having fun" Just one day in to summer vacation and they are already bored. :-)

Introducing Flint

2010-05-10T21:36:00.005-04:00

When you are expecting your first child you are hoping that the child is cute. With the 2nd child you are just hoping for healthy. With the 3rd child you are hoping for a happy baby and with the 4th.....you are just hoping that the child SLEEPS!!

I am so glad to say that Flint is all 4 of these.....CUTE, HEALTHY, HAPPY and SLEEPY!

Just out of the oven....

First time with the bippy. I could hardly keep his hands away from his face for the first few weeks.

ahhh.....the peaceful life of a newborn.

Big Sister Thea can't get enough of him.

Family leaving the hospital

Big brother Nolan letting me watch March Madness with him.

First Sunday

Brya doing her 2 favorite things....holding Flint and reading a book.

I suppose I can wake up for my bath.

First trip to the zoo.

One month

Yes....that does say "caboose" and yes......Mom and Dad mean it.

Two months

This is how I feel today.....

2010-02-27T19:08:00.002-05:00

This cute little box was part of my baby shower decorations. (Thanks Alyssa)

These pics were taken at 38 1/2 weeks.

Dear Mr. President

2010-02-19T18:27:00.007-05:00

There are alot of words we could use to describe Brya and one of the first that comes to mind is "ACTIVIST". Once she gets a "bug in her bonnet" about something there is no stopping her. She has always been opposed to the death penalty but when she realized that hanging was still legal in some states she just had to do something.......Here is what she did.

Here is the response she got.........

I don't think she realizes that her reason for writing was not addressed in the letter but it is still cool to get a letter that "has the President's signature"!!!

Happiness Quote

2010-01-05T06:43:00.003-05:00

I saw this in a magazine (don't know who wrote it though) and liked it. Maybe I'll have to get some help from Upper Case Living and put it up on the wall somewhere.......

"We tend to seek for happiness, when happiness is actually a choice."

Nolan lost a tooth!!

2009-12-18T15:30:00.002-05:00

Nolan lost his first tooth yesterday. It had been barely hanging on all day and when we were at his music class he all of a sudden says "My tooth is gone." We looked around for it but I think it probably got swallowed. Oh well......the tooth fairy got a nice note and Nolan got a nice handful of change.

Birthday Girl

2009-12-11T14:37:00.006-05:00

Thea celebrated her 4th birthday this week. The celebration included.....

......a birthday playdate with a special friend, poofy princess skirts,

birthday cupcakes,

"mmmm....which one do I want"

and playing dress up.

Thea's school also had a little ceremony for turning 4.

"The earth (globe) moves around the sun (candle) tra-la-la". She walks around the sun one time for each year.

No birthday is complete without a treasure chest full of princess attire.

The long awaited booster seat. Now she can buckle herself in....yeah for Mommy!!

Happy Birthday my sweet not-so-little-anymore girl!!

First Snow!!!

2009-12-07T20:54:00.002-05:00

We got our first snow today!!! Brya and Nolan had all their gear on and were outside before 8 o'clock. For me.......the count down to spring begins!

Not enough for a snowman so we had a snowface.

Poor Thea is sick so she had to stay inside. She was actually the first to see the snow because she was up at 4am with a coughing fit. Troy took her outside to try to help with the cough. She had to wake me up to tell me about the snow.

They played happy until the bus came.

Book Worm

2009-11-05T13:20:00.002-05:00

I can read them here or there....
I can read them ANYWHERE!!!

The difference between what you say and what they hear...

2009-09-30T21:29:00.002-04:00

The other day Thea wanted to know why we saved only the pink lids from our yogurt instead of the silver ones......Nolan piped up, real important like, to say "to help them find a cure for "breath" cancer. Needless to say everyone received a lesson in anatomy. :-)

Ever had a day like this......

2009-07-01T22:54:00.006-04:00

Actually today was a good day. The kids wanted to watch videos of themselves tonight instead of bedtime stories. This one always sends them into a fit of giggles and Thea always says "that fit is ugly" :-) This video was taken about a year and a half ago. My sister, RoCherra, told me one time that blogs don't always give the whole picture as people only post the good stuff....so this one is for you RoCherra.

Horse Camp

2009-06-16T23:00:00.004-04:00

Last week Brya got to go to a summer horse camp. It was part for her birthday and part because she did not have her discipline folder signed for the whole year (school thing). She has been obsessed with horses for about a year and a half and I was hoping this would get it out of her system.....I was wrong. She absolutely loved it. She was up at 6am ready to go for most of the mornings. She was even excited to "get to" muck out the stalls. The only thing she complained about was the flies. I'm very glad we live in a subdivision that does not allow horses...whew!! The other day I caught her bouncing up and down on her bike and when I asked her what she was doing she said "I'm practicing my posting!" (something you do in an English saddle not a Western saddle, she informed me.)

Riding bareback.

Nolan and Thea liked to go into the barn and pet the horses too. Nolan even got to feed one a peppermint.

Brya wanted to help with the "untacking" (is that a word??) but she was too short for some of it and needed help.

Sorry about the picture quality. My camera and the barn were not getting along.

The Green Team

2009-05-05T12:47:00.003-04:00

When Robin, Amanda and Alayna were here for Brya's birthday in April, the girls also wanted to celebrate Earth Day. So we did a trash pick-up around one of the ponds in our neighborhood. I can't believe how much we found in less than an hour. We decided you had to really look at what you are picking up because Amanda almost picked up a dead white fish that looked like Styrofoam......we also saw a dead otter or was is a raccoon or was it a possum (no one could agree)....anyway whatever it was it was biodegradable because it was 1/2 way decomposed....yuck! The kids enjoyed the pick-up party and afterward had some nice things to say about the earth and they called themselves THE GREEN TEAM!!!

More Mud

2009-04-30T14:14:00.003-04:00

Should I be worried about "swine flu"? My kids are starting to act like pigs.......:-) These pics were taken before they got really muddy.....oh and this cute little pigsty is (someday) going to be a cute little flower and strawberry garden!!

Ever had smoke in your eyes?

2009-04-26T23:38:00.004-04:00

Last evening Brya was at a birthday party for a school friend. When she got home I mentioned that she smelled like a campfire (they had made s'mores in the backyard). She said "That Dad said that smoke follows beauty and I even hid behind a tree and it still came after me". I snickered and sent her to bed. Then this morning on the way to meeting we were talking about camping and she pipes up from the back and said "Dad, you won't have to worry about getting smoke in your eyes because smoke only follows beauty".

Mud Buddies

2009-04-13T00:10:00.006-04:00

Recently we spent a long weekend with my sister in Ohio. The kids asked very innocently if they may play in the backyard for a few minutes before bath time.......instead they bonded over mud balls.

"But Mom, my hair is already washed."

Just one more push-up Alayna.

Mud-Ball Construction

The Scene

Just what we need Brya - MORE WATER

FPA - Future Plumbers of America

Amanda contemplating the mysteries of Life - be the first to go in for a bath or stay outside and clean up?

Always the nature lover......Brya kissing a worm

Beautiful Sisters

Someday they may talk about boys but for now it's all about Mud.

The person on the swing would get their feet nice and gooey and then swing up and put them on the back of someones shirt.

Thanks to Robin's excellent laundry skills, most everything came clean.

THE DOG

2009-01-13T16:57:00.003-05:00

I always knew we would get a dog (I can only take so much begging before I give in....). I pictured a German Shepherd or maybe a Lab....something big with a name like Buck that leaves hair all over. Instead we have adopted a sweet, little lap dog!! Her name is Truffles but right away her nickname became Truffie. We got her from some of our friends who loved her very much but because of their moving situation thought it might be best to have Truffie stay in one place. When I think lap dog I think....yap, yap, yap all day long, but Truffie rarely barks, which is sooooo nice....as is the fact that she doesn't shed!! Yeah!! She is very protective of Troy and has to jump in if Troy and the kids are wrestling around. Probably the funniest thing to watch is when she is done with her bath, she runs around the upstairs pushing her ears on the floor (to dry them I guess). It gives the whole family a fit of giggles. (I'll post a video of it sometime)

Brya loves Truffie very much and is always willing to take her out for her walk!

Our very intelligent dog!!....she loves this chair and will sit on whatever is already on the chair if she must.

One of her toys is a pacifier. It is hilarious to see her walk around with it.

Just the right size for Thea!

Wish I had taken a picture....

2009-01-10T17:43:00.002-05:00

This afternoon the kids were playing "Princesses and Prince". We set up the little tent in their playroom last night and now it is the "castle". Because Nolan is the only prince the girls were trying to make themselves pretty so he would pick one of them to marry(I have no idea were they get these ideas). Even during lunch Nolan was making suggestions to them about what they could do (such as put on a dress instead of PJs.......Ok he probably heard that from me!!). After awhile I go upstairs to check things out and find that Thea has smeared her pink toothpaste all over her face and arms and hair. I asked her why and she said to make herself cute. She sure was pretty.......pretty sticky that is. I wish that I had taken a picture.......

No More Bippy

2009-01-09T11:37:00.002-05:00

Until a week ago, this is what Thea looked like when she was tired. Her loving relationship with her bippy started at the hospital when she was born and it was very rare that she would ever fall asleep without it (she even got to keep it in during her surgery to put tubes in her ears)! We told her that 3 year olds didn't have bippies but with all the holidays we let it slip by. About a week ago she decided to trade all her bippies for..............

A CINDERELLA COSTUME (from the 1/2 off after Christmas sale)!

Adjusting her crown!

Right away I had to make the rule...NO PRINCESS SHOES ON THE STAIRS!

Brya and Nolan had to join in with their costumes too.....a cowgirl and a boxer!

All in all the transition has not been too bad. The first night involved alot of sobbing and wanting to trade back....it was a good thing that Daddy held firm because Mommy would have given in. Now it has been over a day since she has mentioned them. I guess she's not a baby anymore.........sniff, sniff!

Football Guys

2008-11-15T15:09:00.002-05:00

Last week I was looking through a catalog and found these "football guys". I ripped out the page to save for a Nolan birthday gift idea. Nolan saw the page sitting on the couch and immediately asked how much it was. He went right upstairs to count his money and wanted to know how he could order them. I found a little better deal for him online and ordered them right then and there. We usually have a rule that they have to wait one week before the spend their $$, just to see if they REALLY want it. But we could tell this was not going to be just another toy on the shelf. You see, anyone who knows Nolan knows that he is an extreme sport fan (not an fan of extreme sports but an extreme fan of sports :-). He uses any thing with pieces to set up football plays.....puzzle pieces, a deck of Uno cards, checker pieces, anything!!! He counted down the days until it came in the mail (I was so happy that it came 2 days earlier than I had been telling him!!). On that first day he ate his supper so fast (he is usually the last one) and the next day he wanted to stay home from school so he could play with it! He is already saving so he can buy the "hockey guys" and the "baseball guys" (which he will probably play football with :-)!!!

Bat Encounter

2008-11-15T14:41:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Brya, Thea and I went to a very cool Bat program. Nolan did not want to go but he would have liked it. The program was not creepy at all and I had no idea that bats were so interesting (somehow I don't think I would feel the same way about a "snake" program). The professional was Rob Mies from the Organization for Bat Conservation (http://www.batconservation.org/) and he did a great job keeping Brya's and my attention (Thea's....um...not so much...:-). We got to see 4 bats with each one getting bigger. I thought the neatest fact was that when a fruit eating bat (the bigger ones) each something like cantaloupe, the bat will chew, chew and chew and then will spit out the pulp and just drink the juice. We saw a couple of them do this. Sorry about the poor picture quality...my camera does terrible in this kind of situation and those bats are quick!

These fit just right!!!

2008-11-15T14:38:00.002-05:00

Thank you Amanda and Alayna for our cool glasses!!

See you soon!

Brya, Nolan and Thea

Our Chicago Weekend - October

2008-11-09T13:31:00.010-05:00

My niece, Alayna, turned 6 in October and she wanted to celebrate her birthday at the American Girl store in Chicago. We had a very fun time and enjoyed being with some of the people we use to hang out with up there!!

Birthday supper at The Cheesecake Factory

We stayed one night with our good pal Kerry. The kids loved getting her up at 5 something in the am (different time zone for us). Thanks for putting up with us Kerry!!

Off to the American Girl Store. Thea got the bitty twins....she has had them picked out for weeks!

Brya on the other hand, did not know what she wanted. So we wandered around the store for a while before she chose....

(Thea still picking things out)

SAMANTHA!!! Brya saved all her birthday $$ and did anything she could to make a few bucks so that she could get another doll.

Brya and Alayna ended up getting the same doll.

We had lunch in the little restaurant there. It was ADORABLE. Everything was pink, black and white. Each doll got her own little chair at the table and a little tea set. Guests: Robin (taking pic), Kerry, me, blond twin, Thea, black twin, Kirsten, Amanda, Jess, Brya, Samantha, Samantha, Alayna. Brya's Nikki was at the salon getting her hair done!

Happy 6th Birthday Alayna!!

Kerry and Thea! (the store was packed so I was so glad that Kerry was there!)

Craft Time!

"What did you get??"

Bags and boxes!

Wishing we were not to old for the dolls!! :-) (Robin, Kerry and me)

Shopping aftermath!

...and where were Troy, Nolan and Kevin all this time?? Football game of course! Northwestern and Purdue (I think....)

After we were done downtown we headed out to the country to visit our great friends, Glen, Becky and kids. Katie and Laura got into playing with the dolls too. Thanks for everything Karate Family!!

Glen, Becky, Andy, Katie and Laura

On Sunday, we went to meeting at Arthur and Patty's place. That is the first meeting we went to when we moved to IL from WA. Special!

Leftovers

2008-10-31T14:52:00.002-04:00

Nolan: "What is for lunch Mom?"
Mom: "Leftovers"
Nolan: "OK"....and he runs off to play.
Mom: "Time to eat"
Nolan: Looking at his plate of spaghetti.."Why when you say leftovers it is always something else?"

BEWARE! - Potty Training Story

2008-10-14T19:31:00.002-04:00

Sorry the "Farties (Smarties)" video is sideways.......

The other potty thing that she does, is sometimes calls #2..."I did Big Brown"

The rabbits went camping!

2008-10-11T15:03:00.002-04:00

We have 2 rabbits and they usually just stay in their cage in the sunroom (they aren't very friendly) but today we set up a pen in the yard. Brya and Nolan sat with them and read books. The gray one is "just a rabbit" (kind of like a mutt dog) her name is Tabby. Of the 2, she is more likely to let you pet her. The brown and white one is a rex and her name in Lindsey. She is very curious (always sniffs the vacuum cleaner when it come near), but she will hardly let you touch her (which is a shame because she is so soft).

These 2 were taken a month or so ago.

Back to Swim Lessons

2008-10-04T07:57:00.005-04:00

All 3 kids are back in swim lessons again. They all love it and I love it that all 3 classes are at the same time....we are in and out in about a hour!! This might be the last year for both Brya and Nolan, they have mentioned wanting to start Karate and I'm only up for one sport at a time. My rule is that they had to take swim lessons until they can swim across the pool all on their own....Brya has been able to do it for a while and Nolan can too (he just gets a little panicky sometimes). Nolan just moved up a level on Wednesday.....he'll start learning the strokes now. Thea loves the water...in fact they kicked her out of the baby class last year because she has no fear....she was always saying "Let go of me, let me go". She is now in the pre-school class and now she is saying "My turn, my turn" (she would rather have the teacher to herself).

The beginning of the doggy paddle.

Nice front glide Nolan!

Hurry Mom....we're shivering!

Thea's back float!

Look at the smile on her face!

Thea the Fish!

Brya only has 2 kids in her class so she is tired after 45 min of almost constant attention.

Brya jumping!

All smiles!

Bombs-Away!

Off-centered goggles...oh well, as long as they don't bother him!

Changing the date?

2008-10-04T07:43:00.002-04:00

Does anyone know how to change the date of a post? I would like to post something from this summer but it bugs me to have the wrong date on it......any suggestions?

I give up.......

2008-10-03T14:15:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful busy summer and I really wanted to post some of the 1000+ pics we took....but the summer doesn't seem to be posting itself so I guess we are just going to move right onto Fall!! :-) Here are some of the highlights of our summer....

Nolan's 5th birthday

2+ weeks of vacation to WA and ID

Horse show (not our horses...much to Brya's dismay)

State Fair

Pool time, pool time and more pool time

many visits to the zoo

Conner Prairie

Frog Rescues

sprinkler park

and much much more

If you want pics of any of these events just leave me a comment (bribery...I know :-) and I'll work a getting something posted.

Nolan's Dr Appointment

2008-08-14T14:14:00.002-04:00

Nolan saw his Orthopaedic Dr on Tuesday...good news and bad news (mostly good though!). Bad news is...Yes he has Legg-Calve Perthes Disease in his right hip. Good news is....because he is so young and has lots of growing still to do, the bone should be completely healed within two years. We first saw the condition on an x-ray about 17 months ago but he only started having pain in June. More good news....there is nothing we can do to make it worse so he is free to play/run/jump as much as his heart desires. If it does start to hurt he just needs to take a rest. He will have to see the Dr every 4 months for an x-ray to make sure the healing is going as it should. The Dr thinks there should be no lasting effects into adulthood. YEAH!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

2008-07-04T13:31:00.002-04:00

This morning the kids and I "marched" in the parade with our Kindermusik group. It drizzled or rained the whole time but that is OK.....at least we didn't need sunscreen!! Brya walked the entire time, though the candy she had to pass out was gone in 10 minutes...then she handed out flyers......then she banged on the drum. Nolan and Thea rode in the wagon pulled by ME! On our walk back to the van Nolan informed me that his bottom hurt from all that sitting (boohoohoo), so he walked for about 2 blocks before getting back in. I forgot to grab my camera (a bloggers no-no) so I only got shots after we reached our van again!! The kids thought it was great fun but I have to say that you miss out on all the fun stuff when you are in the parade....the band, old cars, the horses, CANDY!!!

Bang Bang Ouch

2008-06-24T19:50:00.003-04:00

We were just looking through some old (almost 4 years ago) videos. This is my favorite....... Nolan is around 18 months and Brya about 2 1/2.

Our House

2008-06-24T00:01:00.002-04:00

I had a few requests for a picture of our house. I'll post pictures of the inside when it's clean......I guess you'll just have to come visit then!!! Troy has been painting the downstairs bathroom today....no it is not ORANGE!! Some of you might remember my bright (and that is putting it gently) orange bathroom in our townhouse in IL. I did get a wild idea to put stripes on one wall (Troy rolled his eyes at the suggestion but is kindly indulging me.)...I'll post pics when it is done....if it turns out.

How to start a blog?

2008-06-13T18:51:00.004-04:00

With this post I can finally say "Yes, I have a blog." I've actually had one since January put haven't gotten around to posting anything!! Hope it's not another 6 months until I post again. Any suggestions/comments/HELP/etc would be greatly appreciated as I feel very naive about this whole blog thing.....well I guess I'm an expert at looking at other blogs but that really doesn't help me with my own!

So, I'm not really sure how I should start this thing....I feel that I should introduce myself and the family...but I'm guessing that most of you all know me. So here is just a little update for those that I haven't talked to recently.....

In January we moved into our new home in Indiana and we think we are settled until the 'wee ones' go off to college. So we are trying to make this place into a home (aka trying to make our poorly planted grass seed to grow). These days it is almost like a 4th child. Troy's new job is going great....he misses working traffic but doesn't miss the 45+ minute commute. I'm still at home with the kids....I really shouldn't say at home because we never really are. The kids keep me busy (aka crazy) and so you will probably read about them the most. Brya, our 6 year old, is ready to go into first grade. Is she the only kid that didn't want summer vacation? (I'm guessing that will change by 6th grade..). Nolan is almost 5 and will go into a Montesorri next fall. He is our little sports fanatic....he can almost list every NFL team!! And then there is Thea...what can I say....she is very "2" but also does her best to keep up with the "big kids". Because she is our last she gets away with alot more but is also so cute about it.

Sorry for the long post....I'll just post some pics and be done for now!!! (your turn Robin)