Kids take us so literally!

Cookie Baking Fun

Brennan and Sawyer were over the other day and we decided that it would be fun to decorate some sugar cookies! Of course, you can't start decorating until you've tested the product...right?


What started out as simply frosting the cookies...
and adding a few sprinkles...
...ended up like this! This was kamryn's "pile of creation". They had no problem with piling aprox. 4 inches of sprinkes on top of the cookies! Where there is a will...there is a way!
This was Brennan's finished product. To my eyes, the one cookie looked a bit like a watermelon, and the other looked a bit too much like there had been a rodent nearby that deposited some droppings!
After all their hard work, Kamryn decided to sink her teeth into one of those delish cookies! (Just imagine all of the grit she had to bite through just to get to the cookie!)
I thought this pic was just too funny! I'm not sure if the cookies left a bad taste in her mouth, or if she was just plain exausted after all of her hard work!
The little guys weren't completely left out of the action though. Sawyer hung out in the kitchen with us...probably finding enough sprinkles on the floor to delight him...and Ethan...well
Ethan didn't get to help out as much but he was a happy little camper hanging out in the living room! I love watching this little guy smile. He can be as mad as can be...but the moment you smile at him, he will instantly grin back! I just want to sqeeze him...in a loving way of course!
Quote of the day:

ME: (after watching Kamryn finish up her ice cream cone at McDonalds) I think that I should go up and order an ice cream cone for myself too! Don't you think I should Kam?

KAMRYN: Well, you can mama, but don't you think you should get some ice cream too cause just a cone would be gross!

(The lesson in all of this...say what you mean because they'll take you literally!)

American Girl

Our weekend suprise in Chicago
(My sisters Shelly and Tami hanging out in our hotel room and catching up)



My sisters and I had a ton of fun suprising my mom with a girls weekend away in Chicago. She thought that we were headed to my sisters house in Elkhart, but instead we drove to Chicago where we met up with my sister from Iowa and her girls. It was a lot of fun and the little girls had a riot being together with their cousins!


Here is a picture of "mammer" with her precious granddaughters. I'm not exactly sure when this pic was taken, but I know it was sometime after midnight!

And what slumber party eould be complete without some good old "jumping on the bed?"These crazy girls were wired and going strong! They were swimming until 10pm, followed by a late night pizza snack and jumping on the bed. We were still heearing giggles from them at 2am! (Oh to be a kid again)


Despite the fact that they only got around 5 hours of sleep, these girls were all smiles and ready to hit the road running immediately after breakfast! We planned to spend the day at the American Girl store and the girls were so excited!


The girls really enjoyed the experience of riding on the bus...so much, in fact, that when we now see the trolley driving through Goshen, they ask if we can please park the van and ride on that "city bus" like we did in Chicago!

Ally and Kamryn...doing what girls do best...SHOPPING!

Poor Kamryn...tired of shopping!(And getting a little lovin from mammer)

The girls were so excited to eat our lunch at the store. There was more pink then I could have ever imagined and this delighted the girls!
The food was delicious...which was wonderful because we were incredibly hungry! We had cinnamon roles, veggies, cheese stuffed soft pretzels and food kabobs...then they brought out our menus. Whew!


One of the neat things was all of the accomodations that they made for all of the dollies! (I know...it's a doll store...but it was still so amazing to see the creativity!)

By the time our day had ended, the cousins were sad to see each other part ways, but they were all thrilled with the fun time of being together...not to mention the things that mammer purchased for them! They were exhausted...but happy! Very happy! The adults had a great time being together also, but it was so cute to hear my mom gratitude for the suprise weekend, followed by this comment. To us girls- "Thank you so much for suprising me with this weekend. It was a lot of fun, but just please take me back to the country!"
Something that my sisters and i don't get enough of is time spent together! I'll cherish the memories of this weekend for a long time.

Going...Going...Gone

My kiddos could definitely use this phrase to describe their mother over the last month...GOING...GOING...GONE! I feel like I've been spending a good portion of my day lining up tomorrow's sitters! The last month has been a whirlwind, but filled with a ton of fun! While mommy has been off having fun... daddy has been taking care of the 3 little munchkins. (He has had quite a bit of help from his mama though)

Niki had to make a hat for the VOCABULARY HAT PARADE at school! I was filled with (what I thought were wonderful ideas)...but Niki did not agree and had her mind made up on this! She used the word BABY and opted for pic's of Ethan to describe her word. She was so proud of her work!

I thought that we've been in a pretty good bed time routine...but we obviously kept Kamryn up too late this night! I mean...C'mon...Who falls asleep while eating pizza?
"Mr. MOM"
On October 19, I officially entered the last year of my twenties! Brian and I celebrated by spending time in Ft. Wayne shopping, eating and out for a movie! (followed with a late night Krispy Kreme snack). Time alone seems like something that we never have enough of so this little get-away was wonderful!

Treasures beside the bed

I know that some of you are probably wondering if i'm ok or if aliens have taken over my body. It is totally out of character for me to post twice in one week let alone twice in the same day, however, i just thought it was to funny to pass up. I just went upstairs to put away some of the girls laundry and found these items in between Nicole's bed and the wall!

*Container of dental floss
*Dove deoderant
*play $
*2 "zoo pals" paper bowls. (These were food dishes for her imaginary kitty)
*numerous paint samples that they hocked from Menards
*a contact lens case
*American girl doll
*Lip gloss
*many misc. magazine clippings...mostly of babies or things pertaining to babies
*a box of blank thank you cards
*her sister's piggy bank
*misc. hairclips/jewelry
*a paper pumpkin
*25 articles (yes I counted the entire pile) of her baby brother's outgrown clothes which I'm assuming she was keeping for her baby dolls! AAHHH...the treasures of a little girl!

Ironically, I thoroughly cleaned her room on Monday, thus mwaning that she accumulated this collection in a short3 days!

I've been tagged...and I'm not even sure what that means!

I guess that being "tagged" means that I'm supposed to respond to these questions!

Eight things that I did yesterday
1. Was awake from 1:45 am - aprox. 5:30 am with a sweet baby boy named Ethan who obviously felt like spending some quality time w/his mommy! (is it still considered QUALITY time when mommy is slumped over on the couch and keeps saying..."baby boy...WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

2. Slept for an hour and 15 min

3. Got up to get Nicole ready for school

4. Put Nicole on the bus and crawled back into bed

5. remembered that i forgot to tell Brian (AKA the "trash man") to take out the garbage, thus leaving it for me to do

6. Decided that catching some zzz's before the other kiddos woke up was too lofty of a dream, so I cleaned out my garden beds instead and pulled some weeds in my tea patch!

7. Spent a good portion of my day (on the couch) trying to figure out why i was still awake instead of in bed...then it came to me...IT'S BECAUSE I'M A MOTHER!

8. Ate a nutritious dinner at Taco Bell (technically it was food FROM T.B., but it was consumed in the car) and then got groceries with my hubby only to end my day by falling asleep on the couch watching the Pres. debate! What an exciting day!


My eight favorite places to eat (in no particular order)
1. At home around a Papa john's box of Pepp. Pizza
2. Red lobster
3. Olive Garden
4. Margaritaville
5. my mother - in law's kitchen table
6. Any place with a playland (really some days it has absolutely nothing to do with the food at all!)
7. Chicago house of Blues
8. Ruth's Chris steakhouse (only been there once but loved it!)


Eight of my favorite TV shows
1. CSI
2. Entertainment tonight
3. Dancing with the stars
4. Oprah
5. American idol
6. The office (should have made this #1)
7. The evening news...yes i do like the news! just wish it was more uplifting!
8. old episodes of ER

Eight things that i look forward to
1. A night out with Brian on Friday
2. Fri-Sat-Sun
3. Watching my kiddos grow up
4. Sleeping in ...someday!
5. Sleeping all night!
6. summer coming back again!
7. Decorating for Christmas
8. Life after death!

Eight things that i would have on my wish list
1. A weekend away filled with scrapbooking, massages, facials and shopping with intermittent breaks to see my husband and kids. (Did i say a week-end? cause i meant a week!)
2. Getting back into shape...or atleast better shape
3. For all of my kids to have a relationship with the Lord
4. For all of my kids to marry wonderful Christians and give me lots of grandbabies!
5. For all of my kids to live close by! (One of my biggest fears in life is that my kids will move far away - sounds crazy I know, but I'm gonna have a really hard time letting go!) Nicole has already agreed to either live in our bonus room with her hubby or build a house in the field! I'm sure those of you with teenagers are laughing at me thinking "just wait til those kids get a little older!"
6. Having Ethan potty trained
7. Long, beautiful hair extensions (natural looking of course) and the ability to transform "My do" for any given occasion, with only the click of my heels
8. BABY # 4. (But I don't think that this will happen, atleast not unless Brian's wishes change or unless I...no ...better not...a good submissive wife should not resort to trickery...should she?

And now I am supposed to tag some others! Hhhmmmm...
1. Wanita
2. Jessi (just for good measure even though you've already been tagged)
3. Heather
4. Rose (I know...i know...no tag backs!)
5. Jen

LETTING GO...even if it hurts!

My sweet little Nicole came home from school yesterday, smiling the entire walk up the drive. She was so proud to have brought her school pictures home to mama! She took her good old time getting them out of her backpack, loving the excitement from little sister and me! I was thrilled to see them and was actually quite pleased that it was actually a good picture, capturing my truly happy and (Mostly) innocent baby girls smile! It still seems a bit strange to think that Niki is actually in school every day and I think that the hardest thing for me to accept is that she is under someone else's influence for so much of her day! (Guess that's not al-together a bad thing) but any sort of change is hard for me to accept...especially letting go! When her first day of school arrived, she was so excited that I really didn't even have time to be sad. But after the bus pulled away and we walked up to the house... I didn't know what to do! Brian pulled out of the driveway, mammer left with Kamryn, and aunt Tami and cousin Gabi also left - all within a few minutes of each other. I remember still smiling as I walked back inside the front door, but by the time I made it to the kitchen, i had burst into tears! I felt so un-needed and alone and so i woke my sleeping baby and snatched him out of his bed...atleast he needed mama...right? Looking back over the past month, I actually think that I've adjusted fairly well but some mornings (like these) I just miss my baby girl!

All smiles with that Kindergarten grin


A quick picture with mommy and daddy on her first day of school

Daddy giving all of his last minute advice as they walked out to the bus


Seeing this big yellow bus drive away with my baby inside, made me want to secretely stalk the bus all the way to the school! Nothing wrong with that...is there?

THOSE GOOD OLE HOT DAYS OF SUMMER

This was Brian's clever idea...
Attach the slip & slide to the end of the swing set slide! The funniest part was when the girls would get to the end of it and continue sliding on the grass! (It does not sound so funny now...Guess ya had to be there!)
A good portion of our July was spent at swimming lessons,

and the fair. After all, who can resist an elephant ear and some deep fried wisconsin cheese? (Actually, the cheese makes me sick, but it's a favorite of Brian's.)
We went to the fair several times, but the highlight for the girls was spending kids day there with cousin Gabi and aunt Tami. (This pic is yet another thing at the fair, that makes me natious)

Our entire summer has seemed very busy, and yet we didn't do anything major (well aside from adding another member to the family.) Some of the best moments were the times when we were actually able to slow down and just "ENJOY LIFE." On this particular Sunday, we spent the evening at Brian's Aunt Edna and Uncle Dale's pond to let the girls try out their new "Fishing Equipment". Brian had fun using his "expertise" to teach the girls to cast out, and they actually did a pretty good job! I mainly enjoyed the quiet evening and had fun snapping pictures!


Kamryn and cousin Adam had no fear of the worms. In fact, Kam was quite intrigued! Mommy and Nicole, on the other hand, thought they were disgusting! I know...I know... it's just a tiny worm...but they're still gross!
The Prize catch! Both of the girls caught several fish. Since we were throwing them back into the water, Niki had the fun of even catching the same fish twice! (Silly fish...must not have learned his lesson the first time!)
Towards the end of the evening, we noticed that Kamryn was having a little "heart to heart" with Uncle Dale. She was really taking in all that he was saying...but his nice and shiny bald head was such a distraction...
...She just couldn't resist!

"Louie" the frog

On the Sunday of Ethan's baby dedication, we decided to have both of our families over for a cook-out. The girls (who are normally so engrossed in being with their older cousins when they are around, that they would not even notice if their pants were on fire...ok...I exaggerated...but back to my story! Starting again-The girls basically ignored their cousins because they were so consumed with taking care of their new friend...Louie the frog (whom we found on the driveway after church). "Louie" was the first of many frogs to come into our family this summer, and i will tell you about the others in a minute...but first let me tell about Louie. All during lunch, Louie was permitted in the house (in his bug cage of course). After the company had left, I was asked to "babysit" for Louie while the girls went out to play. After being relieved from my duty, i decided to take a nap. I woke to find the girls giggling in the living rm after letting louie out of his cage. (Ever tried to catch a frog in your living rm?) Louie was then transported to the back porch where he spent the remainder of his days...or should I say his last few hours! By 5PM Louie had gone to froggie heaven and the tears began flowing! First Nicole was sad at the idea of losing her new pet..After those tears dried up, a new batch came because she was convinced that Louie's parents must be mad at her for caging up their "froggie son" thus causing his demise! What does a mother say to console her child? "Let's go catch another one!" Big mistake!



This picture is an adequate way to show you all what gave kamryn and Nicole the idea to do the unthinkable! Now tell me friends...what makes 2 sweet little girls who love to play dress up and "wedding girl" as they call it, decide to RIP FROG'S LEGS OFF? That's right! On numerous occasions the girls would come in laughing saying that they had ripped froggies legs off and then would drag me outside to show me the helpless frogs! (None of them living anymore of course) Thinking back, I realized that I may have actually given them the idea...un-intentionally of course. You see, when I took this picture, i told Kamryn...don't pull the legs apart so far or you'll rip them right off! Well this must have been a bright shiny "light bulb" moment for Kamryn.
Last photo of "Louie" before he "departed!"

The froggie killings have slowed down dramatically! However, Kamryn occasionally admits to hiding in their clubhouse and harming another. I loved the idea from a friends site (thanks Heather) to post a quote of the day and while I think that her's are hilarious, i don't normally think of any for myself. However, i do remember one that is quite appropriate for these pic's!
So here goes...


Quote of the Day :

Nicole: Mommy can you help us move the garbage can because we are trying to catch a big froggie and he just ran under there

Me: (After moving the trash can) Oh no! Sorry girls but mommy accidentally squished the froggie

Nicole: (laughing) Wow! It kinda looks like Salsa now! (Bet that gives you a pretty mental picture!)

Summer Days

All dressed up...and ready for tea! Each summer when the Iowa cousins come to mammer and popper's house for the week, it's always filled with fun for the kids! This particular day, mammer had planned to take the ladies and the grandkids (no guys allowed) to a suprise tea at a bed and breakfast! The food was amazing and so was the 1800's brick house that it was held at! The kids loved getting all dressed up for the day!




Tyler and Ally gave us a few laughs pretending that they were both nearly peeing their pants while waiting on their little cousins to come out of the restroom! Now come on...is it really that bad? Notice the smirks on their faces?




Kamryn tried her best to ba a "fancy litle princess" and it did last for a little while, but eventually her "true inner self" got the best of her and she was tearing around the B & B in no time! (Let's just say that a room full of tea cups and china, was not the place for 4 adults and a whole slew of kids to be!) We quickly ushered them outside (before the owners did it for us) and snapped a few more pic's in the flower garden's!


Mammer and the "Precious 8" ...Ally, Kenzie, Kamryn, Jarett, Gabi, Tyler(holding Ethan) and Nicole


If I could read Nicole's mind, I bet she would be saying "This tea party is great and all...But I'm tired of being so up-tight. I'm gonna just relax and prop up my elbows on the table!"





We do drink a lot of tea in our family, but we don't always dress in princess attire to drink it! The girls have enjoyed going out to the garden beds to pick fresh tea and tomatoes! Here is Nicole in all her glory after cutting this tea for me to make iced tea!


CLOWNING AROUND...Ha! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself) The girls found some old face paint and asked me to "decorate them" Thankfully kamryn was pleased with just a small butterfly on her arm!
When the cousins come out, we usually have a slew of summer b-days to celebrate. This year aunt Tami and aunt Brooke decided that instead of the typical b-day spankings, tape would be much more fun. After catching them and having help holding them down, Ally and Jarett were successfully TAPED UP!
This is what happens during a busy week with the cousins when I get side tracked and walk away from the sink...(note to self-shut the water off BEFORE going outside to pick tea!)

The cousins spent most of their time just down the road at mammer and poppers house. But they spent several days at our house instead. I couldn't resist gathering them all up for a quick pic before bed and thought to myself...these kids could actually all be mine! I abruptly shut that train of thought down though, before a panic attack came on!

We spent most of our summer enjoying the outdoors! This was an evening spent on the back porch with friends and their kiddos! The little munchkins always like being together, despite the fact that they often fight like siblings! (Chloe, Niki, Kamryn and Seth)