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!