Theresa Marie

after MUCH thought

2009-10-12T10:14:00.002-05:00

I've had so many people sad that I "retired" my blog. SO I have decided to open it back up again... I know - people pleaser huh? NO - I just won't share as much personal stuff.... need to change my header though as it will NOT be my journal and I am not going to update THAT often! :P anyways - back to up and running.

No more Bloggin here!

2009-08-11T11:01:00.003-05:00

Well, I am SOOO swamped with TONS of things I honestly have no time to blog anymore. Not only that, but there are just SOME people out there that I don't want reading my stuff - especially after an incident that happened just recently with a certain family I know... I just don't want that person reading my stuff and I don't want my "businesses" to mix with my personal life. SOOO if you REALLY want to keep up with me, check out facebook and add me as a friend..... no more bloggin here for the world to see - just on facebook for my friends and family where I can monitor who sees stuff! :)

ELIZA is TWO!

2009-07-18T21:12:00.003-05:00

WOW! I can't believe she's two!

We had her a small party this afternoon and have tons of photos to share!

For now though, I have to admit I am still quite busy (as you may have noticed, I haven't blogged in a MONTH! yikes!) Anyways - I do have some very CUTE photos to share from our photoshoot at JCPenney though!

to check out the photos go here:

SMILES BY WIRE

Enter Customer Name: Theresa Goon
and Access Code: LTPP0324130513JCP

Fun Bargain Hunting during Crazy Days!

2009-07-10T15:34:00.004-05:00

See the picture???

3 gymboree shirts

1 gymboree head wrap

2 old navy shirts

2 pairs old navy socks

tinkerbell glittery purse

Guess how much I spent on all those cute things???

Grand total was $32.30

WOULD have been

$116.00 !!!!!!

YIPPPPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! :D

AND the best part is the girls were SUPER good! no whining or fussing or messing around! They completely listened and even helped me pick some of the shirts out :) LOVE having girls! :)

Two New Layouts

2009-06-11T11:13:00.002-05:00

I had the opportunity to do a "one kit call" for a digital scrap designer, "Creative Chaos" Kymm - it was SO much fun to use her kit "My Favorite Man". If you like what you see, you can pick up the kit HERE!

"Uncle Kevin" - I used a template by Chrissy W....

SO Blessed!

2009-06-10T16:23:00.005-05:00

I just have to say that I am SOOO blessed by God - providing for us! He is SO faithful!

Who'd have thought that when I started freezer cooking for my own family more than 2 years ago that I'd be where I am today - holding freezer cooking sessions in my home for others to be blessed as well... providing time for them to get out and do something for their family, but get some girl time as well!

I sent out another freezer cooking sign up today for June. I sent it at 2pm and already by 4pm (just 2 hours) I have NINE people signed up! I can't believe it....

I am truly blessed to be a blessing!
Thank you GOD!

****UPDATE: And within 9 hours both sessions were filled!****

Little Artist

2009-06-08T10:20:00.002-05:00

Yes, I have a little artist.... she's learned to draw on the wall and cabinet with crayon and I don't think I was clear enough.... perhaps I shouldn't have said we don't use CRAYON to draw on anything but paper.... I should have mentioned ink pens as well? LOL

SOOOOO just for those of you who were curious..... It does take an etire magic eraser and probably a weekend of paint touch up to clean a life size self portrait of a certain 3-1/2 year old in pen ink off the playroom wall that she managed to draw in 5 mins while mommy was switching laundry over!!! I think it helped to have her try and clean it off for 5 mins with rag first and see it doesn't come off.....

Teaching Math

2009-06-01T20:36:00.005-05:00

SOOO I thought I'd try to teach Audrey a little simple math... just started this morning. Here's how it went LOL Not too bad for 3-1/2 I don't think. BY the way... the little "um... um..." thing that Eliza did in this video? Yeah... she does that ALL the time! LOL It's so hilarious!

2009-06-01T09:32:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, I'm the Creative Team Manager for Carina Gardner - who is an amazing digital scrapbook designer! I'm SO excited to announce her call for a creative team that will work on pages for her collections! Check out the info below and follow the directions to apply if you are interested!!!

This is a call for:

CARINA GARDNER

(Digi Nirvana)

DIGITAL COLLECTION

CREATIVE TEAM!

See her digital designs @ 2peas HERE!!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Are you great at making SUPER clean layouts?

Do you like working with collections and have time to create on short notice if needed?
Then you’d be perfect!

Send following info to: carina@diginirvana.com

Name

Email address

Link to your best layout

Link to your most recent gallery

Seriously people! You do NOT want to miss this call - Carina is the BEST to work for and sooooo incredibly talented!

NEW UPDATES!

2009-05-24T14:36:00.008-05:00

WOW - I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted!!! WHY haven't I posted lately? I guess too many new things here going on! Thanks to those who sent the sweet emails asking how we are doing - wondering why I haven't posted updates lately :) It's so neat to see who really cares for us!

I guess I'll start with the most important thing:
ML's job situation - Many of you know that he lost his job after VeraSun became bankrupt and was bought by Valero - which is out of Texas.... we will NOT be moving there! LOL thankfully! He had many interviews and I'm so proud of him, as he was sending out so many resumes and honestly looking to provide for us. He accepted a job offer for Lawrence and Schiller just last week and will be starting with them tuesday! I'm so proud of him for providing for our family! And I'm so thankful to God for providing a job for ML to use his talents and have a witness field.

What am I up to?
LOTS!!!! Mostly keeping busy preparing for freezer cooking sessions. I have had a LOT of interest in this, and unfortunately can not make it a business and keep the costs low. So I'm going to continue doing what I have been doing - dividing up the total for groceries and have moms get together for a fun time :) I AM making a site to put up info though because I constantly have people requesting info on how to do this! :)

I'm still teaching piano too, although not as many students during the summer.

AUDREY
Audrey is going to M-W-F preschool this next fall and is SO excited for it! She's really excited about our new playset and spends a lot of time outside now :) She just finished up dance, gymnastics and swimming classes at Family Wellness - I had the opportunity to sit in on the last 10 mins of her dance classes and snap these photos during her mini recital :)

She did SO well that we've decided to sign her up for dance again... both ballet and hip hop/jazz. She LOVES these classes! :) She will also be in swimming lessons this summer and have gymnastics at her OLD gymnastics center - which she is crazy super excited for! She is a little monkey gymnast, so it's no surprise she loves that class!

ELIZA
Is learning to be a little more happy :) she's not AS high maintenance as she use to be, so that's nice! She's a superb listener and copies almost everything that Audrey does! She loves to eat! Mostly fruits (blackberries are her fave) and veggies (broccoli and cucumber are her face).... She'll down cupcakes too and LOVES those!

SO, here are some other neat things that have gone on this last month!

I held a surprise 30th birthday party here for my brother Jeremy and it went great!

My brothers and I .... older brother, Jeremy on the left and younger brother, Kevin on the right. See me... I'm the pasty white one in the middle :)

I made him his fave. cake - triple layer german chocolate. It was SO much fun making this!

Just this last thursday, my mom took the girls thursday night and kept them until we went to brookings just yesterday (saturday)... I missed the girls SO much! That's the longest I've been away from them!!!

ML and I used all day Friday to plant flowers and trees! It didn't take us long to actually PLANT everything... we started about 2 and were done by like 5? so that's pretty good! We planted TWO apple trees in the backyard, two blackberry bushes, one blueberry bush, 5 lily plants in the back and then THESE on the left of the house:
Aren't they pretty?! They should spread out more in the next few years too :)

We also planted THREE rose bushes in the front of the house! I'm so excited for these to grow! They are suppose to get to 3-4 feet tall and wide! We are going to put a small tree in the front as well and possibly a hosta or two :)

Eliza was out while I was taking the photo - here she's looking at the flowers we planted :) We do a daily devotion and one of them last week talked about how Adam took care of the garden and so we had Eliza and Audrey plant flowers to take care of :)

AND, on to our NEWEST thing... that we are SO completely excited for!!! ML's parents gave us some money when we came home to spend on the girls and we decided to use the money they gave the girls to go toward a playset for our backyard! The girls are SO excited for this and finally this morning got a chance to play out there........ for like TWO hours before church! LOL

There it is!!! two swings, a trapeze bar, a rope ladder and metal and step ladder, a rock wall, wheel and telescope, a tire swing and a slide - and a wood top! :) I'm CRAZY excited because this means we won't need to keep the van JUST so we can get out to go to the park! yay!

I'm really excited because Eliza loves to swing on here! She won't go on swings at parks... so this is a HUGE deal! :)Audrey loved pushing her baby in the swing :) hee hee. she's such a little mommy!

AND the rock wall is her FAVORITE to climb up!!!

Our view of it from the deck!

The last thing to share is that Wednesday we got to take the girls, along with my mom, to the Omaha Zoo!!! OH how we had SO much fun!!!!!!! The girls were SO well behaved and the weather was incredibly nice! I don't think I could have asked for better weather!

To see photos, click here!!!

This week has been SO much fun as a family. I'm thankful that ML had a week off between jobs so we could all hang out as a family :)

Audrey's Bear.... and blankie

2009-05-01T20:13:00.004-05:00

Audrey never really attached to much as a baby, but about a year ago, she started really clinging to this blanket that she received from some church friends when Eliza was born... as her big sister present :) It's her "princess blanket" and ever since she get it, she's wanted to sleep with it, or have it when she's sick, etc.

Last Christmas, my granmother and grandfather (her great grandparents) gave her this adorable bear. This last week or two, she's REALLY attached to it! It seems like it's all she's played with at our house this last week! I love that she's attached to something that my grandparents gave her, because it's special to me and I can see it's special to her.

I just had to share these photos of her with her bear and blankie... it's neat to have two special things. :)

Happy May Day!

2009-05-01T08:54:00.004-05:00

Last night I hosted book club here and we discussed "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" - it's actually a really great fun read! We went with the theme of the book and most everyone brought a dessert of some kind. I made Pear Custard Bars since that's what everyone always asks me to bring every where :)

After everyone had left, I came up to find ML on his computer and he pointed to some gift bags on top of our Armoir (spelling?) Anyways - I asked who those are from and he said they were may day baskets for the girls from him. How sweet is that?!

So, this morning after Audrey had gotten out of bed and I had gotten Eliza out of her crib, and then I crawled back into bed (LOL!) Audrey brought something over to me from ML's side of the bed.......
A: "Happy may day, mommy!"
Me: "OH - thank you honey! Do you know what May Day is?"
A: "yeah - it's like soy sauce..... and you mix it with ketchup. Yep, and it's really good with french fries"
ML: "MAY DAY, Not Mayonaise, Audrey" *laughs*

It was SO cute! Then, I ran to grab my camera, cause I knew that ML was going to give them their may day baskets and when I got back, I took a picture of Audrey and her response was.... "that was SO bright" pretty much in disgust. LOL!

Eliza got right into my may day basket with all the hershey hugs and kisses and started opening them saying "chocolate" She LOVES her chocolate! hee hee.

You can't see, but she's holding up a hershey kiss here. AND she has one in her mouth LOL

ML handed the girls their may day baskets - they were SO excited!

Right away they looked inside to find all the hershey kisses... the hershey hugs are safe for Audrey too, so ML got some of those too :) He explained that there were some that were hugs and others were kisses. Audrey thought that was neat. She liked the hugs the best (same as me!)

Here is ML with the girls :) SO cute! What a fun morning already!

April Freezer Cooking

2009-04-28T09:06:00.004-05:00

Well, I wasn't sure I was going to do a freezer cooking session this month, but after receiving 2 emails from seperate people begging me to, I decided to go ahead and do it :) hee hee. I also decided to make it a monthly event! So I'm excited about that. I will also be doing it soon for my church and possibly another church. It's such a neat event because you get to cook and make meals for your family, while getting out of the house and chatting with a bunch of other ladies - how much more fun could that be?!

Here is the info on the recipes we did this month.....

we made all of these for only $82 a person, that is around $1.50 a serving... not too shabby!

Cheesy Chicken Bundles
- 6 chicken breasts (full) OR Two meals of 3 chicken breasts (half)
- One 9x13 (full) OR Two 8x8 (half)

French Toast Casserole
- One 9x13 (full) OR Two 8x8 (half)

Mozzarella Stix
- 1 gallon bag with 16 mozz stix

Lasagna Spirals
- One 9x13 with 12 spirals (full) OR Two 8x8 meals of 6 spirals (half)

Veggie Pasta Shells
- One 9x13 of approx. 36 jumbo shells (full) OR Three 8x8 of approx. 12 jumbo shells (half)

Teriyaki Chicken Wings
- Two bags (5lb total) Chicken Wings (full) OR Three bags (5lb total) Chicken Wings (half)

Maple Mustard Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts (full) OR Two meals of 2 chicken breasts (half)

Citrus Salsa Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts (full) OR Two meals of 2 chicken breasts (half)

HERE are the RECIPES!
***most of these I found on recipe zaar***

Cheesy Chicken Bundles- OAMC Recipe #308932
*to halve the recipe, simply make the full recipe and place in two separate 8x8 dishes rather than one 9x13*
SERVES 6

1 cup breadcrumbs (or use crushed up crackers)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 (1/2 stick or 4Tbsp) cup butter, melted
1/4 cup olive oil

Needed to Cook (optional):
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated for topping
2 tablespoons butter, melted for topping
**I don’t do and it turns out great!**

To Freeze:
1. Mix together bread crumbs, cheeses, salt and pepper.
2. Mix together melted butter and olive oil in a separate bowl.
3. Dip chicken pieces in melted butter and then in cheese/bread crumb mixture.
4. Roll the breast up or tuck in the sides to form a little bundle.
5. Wrap each raw chicken bundle in plastic wrap and then place in freezer bags.

To Cook:
1. Take out from freezer and place in fridge to thaw.
2. Place in large baking dish. Pour 2 Tablespoons butter on top and sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmesan. (Optional)
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 1 hour, until chicken is crispy.

From the book: Don't Panic: Dinner's in the Freezer

Serving Suggestions:
- Why not add some red potatoes in the same dish along side the chicken (poke holes in them or half if large) and bake for an easy side.
- Serve with a green salad for a complete meal with minimal effort.
- We enjoy a side of steamed broccoli and sour cream and chives mashed potatoes

French Toast Casserole
*to halve the recipe, simply make the full recipe and place in two separate 8x8 dishes rather than one 9x13*
Serves 12

1 lb loaf Italian Bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
8oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Pecans (optional)
4 Eggs
2 Cups Milk
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted

Needed to Cook:
Syrup or ingredients at bottom of recipe to make homemade fruit syrup

To Freeze:
1. Cut bread into one inch cubes (about 14 cups).
2. Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 9x13 inch-baking pan OR two 8x8 pans.
3. Place the cream cheese in a microwaveable bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cook on 100% power for 30 seconds. Stir it with a spoon, cover again and cook another 2 minutes. It should be completely melted.
4. Stir half of the sugar and all of the extract into the cream cheese.
5. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the bread cubes (it will not completely cover them).
6. Sprinkle the nuts over the cream cheese layer.
7. Top with remaining bread cubes.
8. In a bowl, beat the remaining sugar, eggs, milk, cinnamon, and melted butter together. (The egg and milk mixture will make about 3 cups for each recipe.) Pour the egg and milk mixture over the bread cubes and freeze.

To Cook:
Thaw the casserole completely. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until browned. Allow to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes or so before cutting.
Serve with warm syrup or purchased or homemade fruit toppings.

Home Made Fruit Syrup
Fruit, canned, frozen, or fresh 1 2/3 C. (drained of liquid) or 14.5 oz.
sugar 1 C.
corn syrup or honey 1 C.
vanilla or almond extract 1/2 t.

Chop fruit into pieces no more than 1/2 inch square. Combine fruit, sugar and corn syrup or honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the sauce from heat and stir in the extract. Serve warm over the French Toast Casserole (also good over pancakes, ice cream, waffles, ice cream, pound cake, ice cream, etc.)

Mozzarella Stix
Serves 8 (16 stix)

16 Mozzarella stix, 1oz each.
2 Eggs
1 tablespoon Water
1 cup Dry, seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
3 tablespoons Flour

Needed to Cook:
1 cup Spaghetti sauce

To Freeze:
1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and water.
2. Place the breadcrumbs in a plastic bag.
3. Coat cheese sticks in flour, then dip in egg mixture and shake in breadcrumb coating.
4. Freeze on cookie sheets. When solid, place in freezer bags or rigid containers.

To Cook:
Place frozen sticks on ungreased baking sheet and bake uncovered at 400° for 6-8 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Allow to set a few minutes before serving.

Heat spaghetti sauce for dipping.

Comments: Our kids really like these! The cheese sticks are very inexpensive at our discount grocery store or you can buy mozzarella cheese and cut it into 3x1/2 sticks. *See our Zippy Spaghetti Sauce recipe.

Lasagna Spirals Recipe #181318
*to halve the recipe, simply make the full recipe and place in two separate 8x8 dishes rather than one 9x13*
From "Company's Coming School Days Lunches". Great to freeze in single servings for a delicious lunch!
Serves 12 Spirals

12 lasagna noodles, slightly undercooked
2 large eggs
2 cups chopped fresh spinach, stems removed
2 cups ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 cups pasta sauce

Needed to Cook:
1 cup grated (or shredded) part-skim mozzarella cheese
Additional 2 cups pasta sauce or parmesan cheese if wanted.

To Freeze:
1. Beat eggs with fork in large bowl. Add next 5 ingredients. Stir well.
2. Spread approx. 1/4 cup cheese filling on 1 lasagna noodle. Roll up, jelly roll-style, from short end, place seam-side down on top of sauce. Repeat with remaining cheese filling and noodles. Arranging spirals in a single layer on top of sauce.
3. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce evenly in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
(1/2 cup for 8x8 - HALF RECIPE)
5. Spoon remaining (1 cup for full recipe OR 1/2 cup for half recipe) pasta sauce onto spirals.
6. Cover and Freeze.

To Cook:
1. Thaw.
2. Cover with foil. Bake at 350ºF for about 45 minutes until heated through. Discard foil.
3. Sprinkle second amount of mozzarella cheese over top.
4. Bake, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted.

Veggie Pasta Shells (Oamc) Recipe #125496
*to halve the recipe, simply make the full recipe and place in two separate 8x8 dishes rather than one 9x13*
As with all of us, I'm trying to get more veggies in my child. Here is one way to slip some in without them noticing?
SERVES 8 -10

24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
10 ounces vegetable broth
1 carrot, minced (3/4 cup)
1 potato, peeled and diced (3/4 cup)
1 onion, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
28 ounces spaghetti sauce

To Freeze:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse, drain, and let cool.
2. In a large saucepan, heat broth to boiling. Stir in carrots, potatoes and onions and cook 5 minutes until vegetables are tender and most of broth has evaporated.
3. (You can mash veggies up a bit if that's what it takes to hide them!) Combine with ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and egg in a large bowl. Stir in Italian seasoning. Fill each cooked, cooled shell with this cheese mixture. (approx 1 Tbsp)
4. Pour 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan.
(1/4 cup spaghetti sauce for 8x8 – HALF RECIPE)
5. Arrange stuffed shells in a single layer on the sauce. (entire package for full 9x13 pan OR 12-13 in each 8x8 pan).
6. Pour remaining sauce (1/2 cup for Full OR 1/4 cup for half) over top.
7. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese. (optional) Cover and Freeze.

To Cook:
Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Bake as directed below, adding 15-20 minutes to baking time.

To thaw and reheat individual shells, microwave on 40% power for 2-4 minutes until thawed. Then microwave on 60% power for 1-3 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Serving Suggestions:
- fresh loaf of garlic bread and a nice green salad

Teriyaki Chicken Wings (Oamc) Recipe #146730
SERVES 12

1 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 (5 lb) bag chicken wings, frozen

Needed to Cook:
(optional) Rice or Noodles to Serve with.

To Freeze:
1. Divide chicken wings between 2-3 one gallon ziploc freezer bags.
2. In a 4 cup measuring cup assemble remaining ingredients and stir.
3. Divide teriyaki sauce between the 2 or 3 bags of chicken wings, and Freeze.

To Cook:
1. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Place wings in a large baking pan along with teriyaki sauce.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 30 minutes turning once.

Serving Suggestions:
- serve over rice or noodles along with some veggies or potato wedges

Maple Mustard Chicken - OAMC Recipe #216638
This comes from the Super Suppers cookbook. I used boneless skinless breasts for this and reduced the cooking time.
SERVES 4

***half ingredients for Half Recipe!***
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 lbs chicken, cut into pieces

Needed to Cook:
(optional) Rice or Noodles to Serve with.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

To Freeze:
1. Put mustard, syrup, honey and lemon juice into freezer bag. Seal & Mix around.
2. Open bag and add chicken pieces. Mix chicken in sauce and seal.
To Cook:
1. Thaw & Marinate chicken for 1-6 hours. (or overnight)
2. Drain chicken, reserving marinade.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Add chicken and brown on all sides.
5. Turn heat to low and add reserved marinade.
6. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
7. Serve chicken and drizzle with pan juices.

Crockpot:
1. Thaw & Marinate chicken for 1-6 hours. (or overnight)
2. Place in crockpot on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Serving Suggestions:
- mashed potatoes, rice or noodles to serve over
- veggies

Citrus Salsa Chicken (Oamc/Dump Chicken) Recipe #288594
Perfect Chicken for fajitas!!
SERVES 4

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1/2 can crushed pineapple (drained)
8 ounce (3/4 cup) jar orange marmalade (sugar free)

***Half Recipe!***
2 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 can crushed pineapple (drained)
4 ounces (1/4 cup) of jar orange marmalade (sugar free)

Needed to Cook:
(optional) Rice or Noodles to Serve with. OR items to make fajitas.

To Freeze:
Put all ingredients in a freezer bag, seal and freeze.

To Cook:
1. Thawed, cut chicken into strips.
2. Saute chicken for 6 minutes on each side.
3. Use as filling for fajitas and enjoy!

Crockpot:
Place in crockpot on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Shred to use for fajita filling or serve with rice.

Serving Suggestions:
- rice or noodles
- items to make fajitas (tortillas, rice, beans, lettuce, sour cream, black olives, etc.)

If you make any of these recipes, let me know what you think! :)
ENJOY!!!

Sore....

2009-04-24T00:40:00.002-05:00

I'm sore..... I'm REALLY sore!

Monday night I did a really stupid thing - not on purpose though! I fell down my stairs :( Agh! I know! stupid huh? I was heading to go down the stairs with a laundry basket and my left heel slipped and I landed on my back/left side about 4 stairs down and then slid a few more down.....
I knew I was hurt, I just didn't realize HOW hurt I was! To be honest, I don't think I even really had time to stop and examine myself!

Tuesday when I woke up, I thought I'd better make an appt for the chiro since I was REALLY sore and my whole back felt locked up. My knees hurt REALLY bad too :( I'd had some knee trouble in the past, so I thought it was just that.....

Today the chiropractor told me it's going to take a couple weeks to heal up. I have a very minor sprain in my knee (I can walk on it, just hurts when going up stairs or using it lots) and my back is pretty junked up. will take a good 5 + weeks to get back to feeling better. pretty much sitting / standing in the same spot is what gets it sore. I have a bruise on the left side of my back too (I finally had time to look tonight, and yep... there it is!)

After all this, I can say - THANK YOU GOD! He protected me.... this could have been so much worse. I'm blessed that this is all that happened and not something more or worse than a little soreness. And of course, I'm praying that I'll be healed up in no time!

Going Going Going

2009-04-21T16:31:00.003-05:00

Seems like lately, we've just been going and going..... and going! My house is driving me crazy because I've been going through ALL the girls' clothes getting ready and pricing them for the Kingswood rummage sale! That started today (or my friend's did, which is where I'm selling TONS of my stuff!) and it's CRAZY! Seriously... there was a LINE of people ALL the way down her driveway!!! People were grabbing things before we could get them out onto the driveway! I'm super excited because my friend Amy and I and our girls are going out tomorrow morning - so it'll be fun! I did stop at one earlier this morning with the girls and found a dora castle with accessories and a little people set and a pair of jeans for only 25! awesomeness! Audrey was SO excited about the castle and exclaimed "A Castle!!! I've never had a castle before! Thank you Mommy!!!" :) hee hee. So cute. Too bad she doesn't get to play with it today because she didn't take her nap though :( Maybe tomorrow.

Anyways - so I'm off to clean up my mess that's still down here from going through all these clothes!

We have playgroup here friday too and I'm helping out at the rummage as well as have piano lessons OH and going shopping for my freezer cooking sessions that are this weekend - my nights are FULL!

On the Plus, it's CRAZY beautiful out!!! Let's hope it stays that way all week! :D

Easter Weekend 2009 - Photo Heavy! :D

2009-04-13T21:15:00.005-05:00

This weekend was SO much fun! Spending time with family and having so many fun things to do with them is always a blessing! Friday night, we headed to Brookings and spent the night at my parents house. We got to go out to eat at Chinese with Kevin (my lil brother), Eliza, ML and my mom. My dad did his tradition with Audrey while the rest of us ate Chinese.... taking her out to Arby's and then to Wal-Mart to go on rides! :) She LOVES that and was really looking forward to it!

Saturday morning, we headed out to our next tradition... the egg hunt!!! This year it was SOOO nice outside! This was only 10am in this photo and already it was so nice out!
Audrey was super excited to go on an egg hunt. Really it was just tons of candy and toys spread out on the ground outside. I like how they break it up by age...

Audrey went out into the hunt all on her own and came back with a HUGE bucket full! I didn't think she'd be able to fill it up this full!

She had SO much fun doing it on her own. And to our surprise, there were mostly skittles and nerds in her basket (which are both "safe" foods for her)... along with toys AND she won a free kids meal at Applebee's! How neat! :)

After the "egg hunt", we headed to see "Rel" at starbucks... she made Audrey a hot chocolate from my leftover milk :) hee hee.

AND, just like momma, she drinks it to the last sip! Here she's on Aunt Michele and Uncle Jeremy's deck.... we went to help color eggs at their place when we were done at starbucks.

THEN, when we got back to grandma's and grandpa's, Grandpa took Audrey out to sit on his cycle! She really liked that! He even turned it on for her so she could honk the horn! :D

Saturday night, we were able to go out with A LOT of our family! my grandparents, some of my aunts and uncles and both of my brothers as well as my sil and her kids and essy! It was nice to eat dinner with everyone!

Sunday morning the girls woke up to Easter Baskets. We don't do the whole easter bunny thing, so they know it's from us :) I didn't go crazy... maybe crazier than most LOL. Most all of this stuff I got on sale and the baskets we re-use for them every year, which is neat :)

Audrey LOVED that she had nail polish in her basket... her first nail polish she's received from us... she's been asking to paint her fingers, so I thought this would be fun!

She also got this CUTE hat.... I thought it'd go well with the hip hop moves she's learning in dance class :) She also got a dvd, some candy and a big chocolate bunny that one of my friends found (it's hard to find easter chocolate that is peanut free!)

Here's Eliza with her easter basket! She's great at the "cheese" look. LOL. She also LOVED the little hershey chocolate eggs!

Here's Audrey waiting so patiently with her easter dress on while I paint her fingernails for the first time! :)

After church on sunday morning, we headed to family lunch. Audrey was SO cute with the eggs....

First, she cracked the egg (daddy showed her how) and then she thought she needed a fork to peel the egg..... I love the look on her face in these photos!

She thought the white of the egg was part of the shell as well, which is hilarious.... also, she was talking to the fork! ROFL! "come on fork! you can do it, fork....." LOL

HMMM is that the EGG?! No honey... that's just the yolk on the inside.......... good thing daddy likes eggs, cause she did this to a few more too :) Whatever keeps em busy!

After lunch and naps, we headed to the circus!!! which is turning into another easter tradition for us :) hee hee. Audrey LOVED the circus! Did I mention that last week, I told her we were going to the circus and she laughed SO hard that she actually cried! Yeah - that's how much she loves going to the circus!

Last year, she went on a pony ride, so I knew she'd want to go again this year. Daddy is always nice enough to hold her hand on the ride. :)

Look how intently they are watching the circus! I just thought it was neat when I looked over and everyone was watching so intently! :)

We had to leave after the circus, which was hard.... it's not always easy to say goodbye to family.

TODAY was a busy day too! This morning, we headed over to our friend Amy's where we got to play with Abby and Hannah and also Keeley and her siblings! We all headed out to Central to play and jump on the bouncy house stuff! It was SO much fun and allowed the girls (mostly Audrey, as Eliza is still a hip clingy girl) to run off some energy. The church was selling lunch too, so we sat down to watch some veggie tales while we ate walking tacos and hot dogs! mmm!

Afterward, we headed home for naps, which didn't last long. Audrey only slept an hour and Eliza not much longer than that, so we headed to the Fire Station for a tour that was set up through the MOMS club. I really wanted to go to this, but thought the girls would sleep too long for us to go! So I was surprised when they both woke up just in time for us to head out the door and eat snacks along the way :)

Audrey had SO much fun! First they showed us a safety video and then we went out to see the fire truck and learn more from the firemen.

The firemen were SO great with the kids! I was really amazed! The last thing they let the kids do was to shoot water from the hose to hit a garbage can... Audrey LOVED this! Above is her FIRST time shooting the water......

SECOND time shotting the water......

She had fun even if SHE wasn't the one shooting the water! LOL

Here's a photo showing how far away the garbage can was that they were shooting at... the water was so hard it would tip over!

Audrey's THIRD time shooting water from the hose!!! LOL

She really did have a GREAT time and I'm so thankful for things like this where she can have fun and learn all at the same time!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T15:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter everyone!

A Precious Life Goes Home

2009-04-06T22:16:00.002-05:00

My brother wrote this incredible poem .....

A Precious Life Goes Home
By Jeremy Klingbile

Proverbs 11:30- The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,And he who wins souls is wise. (NKJV)

The big day has arrived.
It's almost time to go.
As you say your good-byes,
Some tears begin to flow.

A new journey begins
A mission far away.
Put your trust in the Lord
He will show you the way.

With your words and actions
You show and speak the Word,
Changing thousands of lives
Through what they've seen and heard.

Suddenly it happens,
It's so hard to rejoice
Your life is now complete
But then there is this voice.

"Mom, please do not be sad.
I am still in your heart.
Dad, please be of good cheer
We'll never be apart.

All my family and friends,
Pastors and teachers too,
With your prayers and support,
I did all I could do.

When the Lord calls your name
Please do answer His call.
Now that I'm home with Him,
I'm Waiting for you all"

In loving Memory of Sarah Buller!

Life is short

2009-04-05T22:06:00.003-05:00

I'm so sad right now. Tonight I learned that one of our friends, and former youth, Sarah Buller has passed away, due to a car accident. Sarah (18 years of age) was living in Africa, serving the Lord on a long term missions trip. She was an amazing person, the sweetest, most kind girl you could possibly know, absolutely gorgeous, both inside and out. Thankfully, her parents had the opportunity to go visit her 2 weeks ago in Africa.

She was doing exactly what God had called her to do - serving him and reaching out to those in need. I consider it an absolute priviledge to have known her, to have taught her music lessons, attended youth conventions and had late night camp chats with her. She really truly loved the Lord and shined her light. She touched so many people!

Things like this really make me think about life. Why I do certain things, or don't do certain things. Reminding myself that I need to take every moment as a blessing with those I love. Keeping in mind the real reason I am here - to serve Jesus and have a personal relationship with him.... to remember to let the spirit guide me in my days so I have the opportunity to witness to others and to live out the life that God wants me to.

Please pray for Sarah's family - her parents, her 4 siblings, along with 4 other siblings that the family adopted from guatamala a few years ago. And also for her friends. This is so hard and seems so unreal.

Sarah, you'll be missed, but we take comfort in knowing that you are with Jesus.

Crazy Week!

2009-04-05T00:50:00.004-05:00

WOW - we had LOTS going on this week! Seems like I don't get to update every day anymore. By the time I keep up with the girls, the house and our schedule, I'm exhausted and ready for bed... so if I wanna journal and keep my blog updated for family and friends then I have to stay up late like tonight :) hee hee.

Monday we had an Easter party for MOMS club. We brought cute cupcakes and rice krispy bars... it was so much fun to be part of this party committee, despite all the hard work! :)

Audrey loved seeing the Easter Bunny, but didn't care to get TOO close to him. She even told me that she liked the easter bunny, but didn't want to get too close cause she'd be scared - how cute!

She absolutely LOVED the cupcakes with the peeps on top - here she's holding her favorite - the yellow one! :)

Next, Audrey had her FIRST lessons at Family Wellness on Wedensday. My mom drove here and surprised us... she came with us to Audrey's dance classes - Ballet and Hip Hop! Audrey did GREAT! And she really liked her teacher too :) It was an hour of fun for her!

I was really surprised that she listened so well for that entire hour. That's a long time for a 3-1/2 year old! :)

Then, it's been SO nice out lately that we decided while we were waiting for grandma to come on Friday night, we'd take the girls out for a walk. Audrey wanted to pull the wagon, but I talked her into riding her bike instead. She's getting really good at peddling and stopping, so that's fun :) She LOVES riding her bike!

Did I mention that ML had the afternoon off? Downtown where he works was evacuated because they were doing construction and hit a gas line... too bad! :) hee hee. Did I also mention that he spent all afternoon in bed taking a nap? LOL

I guess that way he could go outside with us that night though :) Eliza had fun pulling her doll in her stroller - backward. LOL She's really become a daddy's girl lately too!

ML really wanted to get a mouse for Audrey because she's been wanting to play computer games, so friday night we went to Best Buy and they found a mouse for her that is JUST her size! She was SO excited! :)

I also have to mention that we ate at SUBWAY for the first time since she was diagnosed with Peanut Allergy and had a reaction there... since then we had stayed away from that resturant. (her face swelled up and got red around her mouth and her wrists the first time and then a week later we tried again and the same thing happened) But recently I have been chatting with my friend Cindi, who takes her boys there and they are allergic to more than peanut! So I thought - let's give this a try, cause I LOVE Subway! SO - we ate there and she had NO reaction!!! How exciting is that?!?!!!!! yeah - I'm SO excited! Cindi - thanks for telling me that Subway was safe for your son!!! :)

Today we got TONS of snow, so my mom had to leave early to travel back home. That was a bummer :( But we'll see her again next Friday for Easter! yay! :)

Results

2009-03-31T13:10:00.002-05:00

I got a call yesterday morning from the GI doctor's nurse. She said that Eliza does NOT have the rare disease they were looking for, which is GREAT! Praise God! So she is diagnosed with a severe form of constipation. We basically continue with the mirilax only on a very strict "watching" term. So we need to keep track of how much mirilax we give her and how many stinky diapers she has and the consistency of them. Thank you to everyone who prayed for her!!!

Long Day

2009-03-27T16:25:00.002-05:00

This morning started off by taking ML to work and then heading to the new and GORGEOUS children's castle hospital here in town. It is truly an amazing hospital for children! The outside looks like a castle and you are greeted with rows of flags as you arrive to park. Inside, there are "wishing stones" that you can take home and even princesses all dressed up to say hello to and get your picture taken with. WOW - if only I had my camera!

Anyhow... those of you who know me well or have followed my blog, know the different things we've had to deal with regarding Eliza and her constipation issues. I finally decided to get a second opinion, so this morning, we took her to see a different GI.

Right away they took and X-Ray and when the Dr. came in, he said she was completely backed up - he looked pretty appalled. Anyways - after much discussion and his encouragement that this is what he'd do if it were his own child, we decided to go ahead with the barium enema that was suggested we do when she was only a year old.

We went home and then had lunch with Grandma and then ML, Eliza and I headed to the children's castle hospital again to get her barium enema done. It was really scary knowing all the complications that could come from this procedure. Truly a time when you have to trust on God and know that HE has everything in his hands... but it's not easy!

When we got there, we got her checked in and then was called to go in and have her test done. She screamed and cried through the ENTIRE thing.... except when the nurse made a little kitty sound LOL They took some X-rays after inserting the dye and then sent us out to wait for her body to get rid of some of the stuff.... then we went back in and she had a few more x-rays done.... screaming again through the entire thing.

Overall, she did good. Heck... I would scream through it too... I can barely stand needles.

Since, she's been happy go lucky girl and gone through 2 diapers... fun stuff I tell you!

We will hear the results on Monday to see what's going on with her body and why we've been dealing with since she was born.

Desperate Housewives

2009-03-26T23:00:00.003-05:00

If you know me, you know I LOVE to watch shows and one of my faves. is Desperate Housewives. I must admit, at first I was a little embarrassed to admit it LOL

Anyways - tonight while on facebook I took a test to see which desperate housewife I would be and it came back as Bree!!! I am laughing so hard right now and thinking... am I REALLY like Bree? Seriously.....

Here's what it says....
You’re the perfect wife , mother and housekeeper, and just a bit of a control freak Everyone admires you , but maybe there just a little bit afraid of you . step away from the soufflé, ease up on the hairspray , and learn to go with the flow.

What do you think?

Park Photos

2009-03-23T20:42:00.004-05:00

Last week the weather was SO great that we went to the park for the first time this year as a family! After we picked up ML from work, we headed to the park to play in the gorgeous weather! Here are some photos that I snapped while the girls were playing.

Audrey climbed this rock wall all on her own! I thought she looked so cute climbing up this with her hoodie and bright pink boots on! hee hee.

After we were done playing, we headed to a table to have a picnic dinner! The girls were SO adorable and I just snapped some candid shots, which I LOVE how they turned out!

We had SUCH a fun time and I had to share these great photos I snapped! :)

Seriously?

2009-03-23T15:58:00.001-05:00

This is what the local weather channel site says:

'From heavy snow and strong winds to rain, flooding, and possibly even tornadoes, South Dakota could see a wide range of severe weather today.'

Seriously?! It's like our state doesn't know exactly what season it is right now! LOL We have winter, spring and summer all in one day! haha!

What a BUSY week!

2009-03-21T21:44:00.002-05:00

WOW - this week certainly has been BUSY! I'm talking up until WAY too late every single night busy :)

I honestly haven't gotten much time to myself (which is why my blog has not been updated)! And the time I have gotten to myself, I chose to go out with a friend or two :) ;)

The weather here has been amazing and we've been able to get outdoors every day but one day this week! I've also gotten to hang out with my friend Amy and her little girls quite a bit this week, which has been sanity to the insanity of this week!

Thursday night I had my first freezer cooking session for March, and it went amazingly well! Then this morning, I finished up with the second freezer cooking session. Each session had 6 ladies and we were able to make 9 meals and sugar cookies! Well, for smaller families, it's more like 18 meals :) So, 90 meals on Thursday night and 90 meals today - that's a total of 180 meals!!! OH did I mention that each person only had to pay $66.50! Isn't that amazing?! That's less than $2 a serving!! I couldn't believe it and the ladies in my freezer sessions couldn't believe it. What a blessing for all these families!

We made the following recipes:
Caribbean Steak
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake
Crockpot Jambalaya
Crockpot Meatballs
Baked Ziti
Apricot Barbeque Chicken Legs
Tex Mex Pork Wraps
Porkchops with Pineapple
Sugar Cookies

Most of these recipes I got from a Saving Dinner freezer menu that I purchased, and I got one recipe from recipe zaar, which is linked above.

I got sooooo caught up in the fun of freezer cooking, that I went out to purchase stuff to make even MORE! crazy huh? BUT pork is on sale for 1.58 a pound and I couldn't pass that up!

So here's what else I made:
3 - Tex Mex Pork Wraps (3 pound pork roasts each)
Pork Chops (6) to make on the grill
Pork Chops (4) to make on the grill
Pork Chops (4) to make on the grill
2 - Porkchops and Pineapple
Caribbean Steak
3 - Crockpot Jambalaya

(btw... I have had SO many people ask me about freezer cooking that maybe I'll start putting up tips and things here on my sidebar... so be looking out for that!)

Plus tonight, we grilled... ML did some steak with marinade and I cut up some veggie packets to roll in foil and grill. We put in Asparagus, potatoes, green pepper, carrot and onion and then I added some minced garlic, salt and pepper. While ML was grilling, I baked up some chocolate chip cookies. All of tonights dinner was SO delish!!

I'm really looking forward to this next week. Hopefully it'll be WAY less busy than this last week!

Praying!

2009-03-16T15:08:00.001-05:00

Just a little note to everyone who reads my blog.... PLEASE would you pray for my dear friend Amy and her little girl Hannah. Here is her BLOG for details.

Love you guys!!!

Weekend Away

2009-03-10T11:18:00.003-05:00

This weekend was a lot of fun!

Friday, Audrey took a nap, so we got to watch a movie and eat popcorn when she woke up (we've been working on getting back to taking naps, since getting back from Malaysia, it's been a struggle to get back on schedule with sleeping and eating... so I drew a picture for her with a smiley face showing that she gets to do fun things in the afternoon if she takes her naps and then a frown face showing those fun things X'd out if she doesn't take naps) I LOVE watching movies with the girls, so if we have to do that every afternoon after nap time so that Audrey takes her nap, I'm good with that! LOL.

Cute photo of Eliza while we were watching our movie :)

Love this photo of Audrey! I curled her hair on Friday morning before we went to "backyard adventures" with some of our friends! it was a LOT of fun running around there!

Friday late afternoon (after our movie) we went for a walk because it was SO nice out! Then my mom got here and we went out to do a few errands and to the mall. We found what we needed there and on our way out, Eliza fell into the wall and scraped her head :( poor girl. We actually went out and bought Mederma that night cause it looks so nasty!

Saturday morning, my mom and I headed to the wellness center at 6:30am to get the girls signed up for classes. We waited in line and then verified membership at 7am and then at 8am they opened the doors. I got Audrey and Eliza signed up for swimming lessons (same day and time, so that's awesome!) and then my mom waited in the line to sign up Audrey for Ballet and Hip Hop and Gymnastics! So we are VERY excited about starting those classes next month! :) Audrey is so cute... I told her she was signed up for hip hop class and she asked if hippo's bite. LOL. Then she showed me what a "hippo" dance is - it's SO cute! I'll have to get it on video for sure :) So... if you ask what she's signed up for, she'll say gymnastics, swimming, ballet and hippo dance. :)

Later saturday, we headed to Brookings for a wedding.... we had SO much fun celebrating with Aubrey and David! It was a beautiful wedding - Aubrey was gorgeous! And we are SO very happy for them!

While at the wedding, we sat next to Chris and Jim - one of my good friend's parents - and Chris was SO great with Audrey! In this photo, they are singing the turtle song that Chris taught Audrey.... which we sing 100's of times a day now LOL!

Here is ML writing down some advice in the little notebooks that they had on the table for everyone to sign and write advice in :)

Sunday morning we went to our old church and it was so nice to catch up with everyone and see some old friends :) After church, we went to Arby's for lunch. I couldn't NOT take a photo of Eliza with the shake - she LOVED it! LOL

After Arby's we headed to our former neighbor's house - they JUST had a little baby girl, so we dropped by to give them a gift for their new little girl and for Chasen, their 2 (almost 3) year old son. Audrey really enjoyed playing there and seeing Chasen again and it was SO nice to chat with them and catch up! I miss them SO much as neighbors!!! :(

I also got a chance to catch up with my great friend, Jodi and we had such a great time chatting that we lost track of time! LOL :) Even though the starbucks machine couldn't make espresso, we still had yummy misto's while we chatted, so that was nice :)

Then I had the chance to stop at my grandparent's house with ML, the girls and my parents. I always LOVE going over to visit with them! I love them so much and I really miss being in the same town as them, so it was nice to see them again! AND I love seeing the girls interact with them too :)

That night, we traveled back home and got the girls to bed. It was a great weekend, but it was really hard to leave Brookings! :(

Yesterday was a highlight though! The girls and I went to Olive Garden with my friend Laurelle to celebrate her birthday :) Of course, we brought our own food for Audrey, which she enjoyed while I ate olive garden with laurelle! :) hee hee. Not only did I get to enjoy lunch with Laurelle, but she stayed to hang out during the girls' naps AND we hung out at Barnes and Noble with her and we met up with Chelsey there too! So fun and So awesome! What a great way to spend a day!

AND before I end this post so I can tend to the girls (who are playing well with the kitchen toys! making fake tea :) ) and make lunch for them, I have to mention that we are on DAY FOUR of Eliza NOT nursing!!!! Seriously! Can you believe it?! I didn't nurse her while in Brookings and I think that was a great way to wean her! Then when we got home Sunday night, she went straight to bed and yesterday after a half hour of crying, she finally fell asleep for a 40 minute nap, but no nursing! So I'm WAY excited!!! Way to go Eliza! :)

Our weekend (two days late) ha ha!

2009-03-03T13:39:00.005-06:00

This last weekend was SO much fun!!! My mom came in the early afternoon on friday, which was really nice! Then, I got out friday night for some bowling with the MOMS club here and we had a blast! Then saturday I went for coffee in the morning with the MOMS club. I'm so thankful for that group of ladies - they keep me busy and smiling (most of the time! LOL)

Anyways - when I got home from coffee chat, I found everyone outside! Apparently they were sledding down the driveway!!! LOL I'm so glad we live in a "quiet" neighbor hood with little traffic so we can do fun things outside in the front of the house! ML was thinking like me and took some video and photos!

Audrey getting ready to sled down the driveway!

Audrey sledding down with Grandma Jenni!!!

Audrey was being silly and had Grandma pull her up while she was laying on the sled and snow LOL! I thought that was hilarious.

And we ended with Audrey doing snow angels with Grandma in the snow. BRRR! good thing grandma had a change of clothes!!!

We came in and had sunbutter and jelly sandwiches and chips... and pears! yum!

Sunday morning grandma went home :( And we were off to church. We were going to go at night, but the girls didn't take their naps (which was typical of the whole week before, but that's a whole other story) So we ended up staying home and trying black berries!!!

Audrey didn't care for them, but Eliza loved them! I actually had gotten them just for her. I heard from my MOMS club friends that they would be good for her bowel issues! SO we are trying them... she's been eating about 5 to 6 of them every day and so far.... no help! oh well.

She was excited when we gave her more than one too :)
The girls went to bed early and ML and I just hung out downstairs - and that was our weekend!

Monday was a LOT of fun... we went to a friends' house and hung out for a bit, then to the mall play area for playgroup and then we ate lunch with Amy, Abby and Hannah - our really great friends (who I am SOOO thankful for!) And then they helped me find a dress at JC Penney for $4.97!!! yay me!

That night, we went to the pool and I took my first spinning class. Lets just say that's not a class for me! I totally prefer pilates and aqua fitness to the spinning class! LOL. I felt AWFUL about an hour after we got home and ended up falling asleep next to ML on the couch at 8:30... not cool. oh well.

Today we just hung out on the couch since I still felt blah from the night before. At about 10:15, I noticed Eliza on the floor watching TV and then next thing I knew she was asleep! Now if you know Eliza... you'd know that she has NEVER fallen asleep on her own like that before! She has to either nurse, or cry in her crib to fall asleep! So this was def. a first! A very cool first! LOL She slept for about an hour and then didn't sleep this afternoon. But typically she only sleeps 1/2 hour in the afternoon. So if I get an hour in the morning rather than 1/2 hour in the afternoon, I totally go for that! :)

I love how she's "hugging" Audrey's umbrella! LOL!!!

Tonight I teach lessons and the girls will get a bath and early to bed, since they didn't take naps this afternoon.

btw... on a side note: Audrey told us yesterday that she wanted a baby brother LOL I was mentioning that Aunt Michele is pregnant again and she asked "what about baby essy?" and so I explained that now baby essy was going to be a big sister, like she is. and she thinks aunt michele is going to have a boy, so baby essy will have a brother. Then she said she wanted a baby brother. Then she said "hey I have an idea... how about we have TWO babies! A boy one and a girl one... just like Dora" LOL. Thought that was funny.

Pancake Day and Fashionista!

2009-02-25T09:35:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was Pancake Day! Soooo we had pancakes for dinner - how fun! I taught piano while ML took the girls to the wellness center to go swimming. When they got home, it was time for bed and I got to go out with one of my close friends for a soda, appetizer and fabulous chatting and venting time for the both of us! I had SO much fun and I LOVE hanging out with her! She's a blast and absolutely hilarious! AND she helped me remember that GOD did call ML and I to Sioux Falls and it'll get better. Yes, I'm still dealing with all of that and not always so happy that I'm here. Anyways!

Eliza loves pancakes too.... She's to the point where she HAS to feed herself.

Audrey LOVED that the pancakes were in the shape of a heart! She is to the point where she HAS to cut it herself... or at least try for a few minutes. She actualy does really well and can cut a lot of her food on her own. That's nice!

This morning, we had breakfast together after daddy left for work. Then we cleaned up and headed to the bedroom to get dressed (I like to have breakfast BEFORE they get dressed so if they are messy it just gets on their jammies.... NOT their day clothes.) We tried out some new "pretties" that I bought last night at wal-mart. I found a bunch of stuff on sale for $1, so I got the girls some bracelets (so they don't keep playing with mine!), a headband and even a zip up hoodie for only a dollar!!! yeah... pretty awesome!

Eliza only keeps in pretties for about 5 mins.... then off they come. But oh so cute while it's on!

Audrey is definitely my little Fashionista! She chose this outfit on her own..... from the tights, to the shirt and sweater and the belt.... they she of course wanted her bracelets on and her necklace too... and Don't forget the headband (which she is in love with right now) LOL. And this is SOOOO her! She has quite the little style and wants her ears pierced too... which, will be a few years!

Sorry - this is sideways! LOL Anyways. When we were done getting dressed, we went out to the living room and she HAD to grab her unbrella and purse! see.... told you she's our little fashion girl! I LOVE this photo of her :) Look how she posed!!!! ha ha.

Not much for today. We will probably try to go out for a walk before lunch because it's suppose to get cold and windy this afternoon AND snow :( blah.

I'm really looking forward to church tonight because they are going to start tonight by watching the first half of Fireproof and then next week the second half and then we'll be doing the "love dare" ... so I'm really really Excited about that!!!

Catching up!

2009-02-24T08:40:00.004-06:00

I haven't been very good about keeping up here with the photos from this last week! This weekend my brother was here and that was SO fun! Unfortunately, the weekend goes by way too fast when he comes to visit! We didn't do a whole lot... mostly just hang out and then church on sunday. Here are some photos of this weekend and yesterday....

Here's the photo of Audrey with the pizza that we ordered friday from little ceasar's. Here's the story I wrote about this on my last post:

I was SO surprised when I ordered the pizza, I gave our address and then our last name and then the lady on the other end said "This wouldn't be Theresa, would it?!" and I said "Yes?!" and then she told me "This is Lola!" (as in THE ms. Lola!!! her wednesday night sunday school teacher!) She said to say Hi to Audrey (and I did) and then I ordered the pizza.Just a half an hour later, our pizza arrived YAY! When I opened the box, inside I saw something written..... "Hi Audrey, Jesus said let the little children come to me. Love, Miss Lola" OMGoodness!!!!! How COOL is that?! (that's their new memory verse). I read it to Audrey and she was SO excited... she even giggled a little :)

Sunday, I curled my hair (which I've been doing a lot of lately and love it) and Audrey saw me and wanted her hair curled too... it's the first time I curled her hair and I am surprised that it stayed in most of the day too! I thought it was adorable! She's been into headbands lately too... so cute!

The girls and I right before we left for Church. They are wearing matching dresses from malaysia!

Yesterday while curling just a couple pieces of hair, Audrey saw and again wanted her hair curled. We had time for a few pieces.

She's so adorable!

We had so much fun yesterday morning. Our friends Amy, Abby and Hannah came over and after playing a little bit, we headed to Culver's for a MOMS Club lunch bunch. It was really nice to be able to go out to lunch with other mom's and kids! I really missed doing that while we were on vaca in Malaysia!

Eliza was SO fussy yesterday and when we got home from lunch, i had a hard time getting Audrey to nap... finally she fell asleep, but I had to wake her just an hour later to run an errand that had to be done. Eliza didn't nap at all.... fun stuff.

BUT, after we picked up daddy, we warmed up some Taco Soup for dinner and then I got to go out to Starbucks for MOMS Club book club! The book this month is called "The Red Tent" and was an amazing book! I really really enjoyed it - so much so that I finished it in one afternoon!!! Definitely a neat book!

Overall it was actually a pretty good day yesterday, even with Eliza being as fussy as she was and not taking a nap.

Not too much planned for today - just hanging out with the girls (watching imagination movers now and then little einsteins at 9:30) and then we'll probably do some "school work" and have lunch, naps and then play a bit. Tonight I teach lessons and I hope to get some hangers so I can finish hanging up the rest of the clothes. I also have lots of laundry to do! yikes... better go get started on that while the girls are entertained with their fave. shows! :)

btw... I forgot to mention something REALLY cute that Audrey told me on friday morning. I was making french toast and eggs for breakfast and I asked her if she missed Malaysia and she said "Yeah... I do. I miss Grandpa Sonny and Grandma Linda VERY much..... because I just love them SOOOO much" I said OH really? .... Later that day, she mentioned "I love grandpa sonny and grandma linda SO very much, mommy" How SWEET is that!?

Fun with Family & Friends Day

2009-02-20T22:12:00.002-06:00

First of all - I am SO excited that Audrey and Eliza slept and stayed in their bed until 7am this morning! NO 4 am wake up call for me!!! Audrey did wake up to go potty once and woke up Eliza in the process, but Eliza just cried herself back to sleep... so that was SOOO nice!

Today... WOW! What a fun day!!!

This morning after enjoying french toast that Audrey begged me to make... "please please please" is her latest thing... and Eliza agreeing with her newest phrase "I DO!" we were thrilled to see Aunt Michele, Baby Essy and Dean arrive! We hung out all morning playing and chatting and then ordered Little Ceasar's Pizza for lunch.

I was SO surprised when I ordered the pizza, I gave our address and then our last name and then the lady on the other end said "This wouldn't be Theresa, would it?!" and I said "Yes?!" and then she told me "This is Lola!" (as in THE ms. Lola!!! her wednesday night sunday school teacher!) She said to say Hi to Audrey (and I did) and then I ordered the pizza.

Just a half an hour later, our pizza arrived YAY! When I opened the box, inside I saw something written..... "Hi Audrey, Jesus said let the little children come to me. Love, Miss Lola" OMGoodness!!!!! How COOL is that?! (that's their new memory verse). I read it to Audrey and she was SO excited... she even giggled a little :) I have a photo, but my camera is upstairs. LOL

anyways, after lunch, Michele, Essy and Dean left to go home and the girls went down for their naps. They slept ALL afternoon! from 1:30-5 So that was a nice break for me. I can't believe that Eliza has been sleeping longer than 1/2 hour at naptime in her crib! That just does NOT happen! So I'm super excited about that! :D

After the girls woke up and ML was home, I got a text message from my great friend Amy asking if we'd be interested in going to a movie at the cheap theather. So after a little checking, Audrey and I headed off to meet our friends Amy and Abby at the cheap theater to watch "Bolt".

We waited in line to get tickets and then for popcorn and pop / lemonade and then headed in to get seated. Even on our way in, Audrey had a HUGE smile on her face - could totally tell that she was super excited. She does love the movie theater.... and popcorn! :) OH and don't forget that we HAD to get skittles too... due to Audrey's begging.... "please please please mommy, can we get skittles?!" LOL

She was SO fabulous through the whole movie! She had a huge grin from ear to ear with each happy scene and the most huge pout when something was sad and even covered her eyes at one point where it was a bit scary. We had SOOO much fun going with Amy and Abby! And it made it more fun that it was so spontaneous! :)

To make things even better, when we got home (an hour and a half past bedtime), Grandma Jenni and Uncle Kevin were there!!! That was WAY excited for Audrey and she exclaimed "agh... you're kidding me!" LOL.

So yes, a completely fun day with family and friends, and it was really amazing! and looking forward to a great weekend with my lil bro and mom in town :D YAY me!

Ooops!

2009-02-18T01:07:00.002-06:00

So, today around 11, Audrey was tired, so I decided to head upstairs and get lunch ready for the girls.... Heated up some leftovers from yesterday's lunch, but neither of them ate it... they were just too tired. So, off we headed to nap time at 11:30 - an hour and a half earlier than usual. Next thing I know, ML is waking me asking if I teach piano tonight - OMGoodness!!! It was 5:30pm! I couldn't believe it and felt awful!

Let's just say I won't be napping with the girls tomorrow to ensure that we don't take a 6 hour nap during the day!!!!!

Back into Routine

2009-02-17T08:23:00.003-06:00

Well, we seem to be getting back into the routine of things quite well. The girls are waking up less during the night for a snack... and... me too :) hee hee. Yesterday I was up at 4am to finish my previous lunch that was saved in the fridge for me. I slept from about 4pm to 4am, not feeling well. Probably due to little to no sleep our entire trip :)

Yesterday we took Eliza in to get checked... her cough is awful and she's had a low grade temp since the last day of Malaysia. Well, looks like she has ear infection. So she's on meds now for the next 10 day :) fun! At least we figured out what was causing her to be so fussy.

Audrey has been behaving very well - much better than I expected. You know during holidays when the kids get 100% - 24/7 attention from all the relatives and then you go back to your regular days and everyone else goes back to work.... and the kids are stuck with only ONE of you and don't get the 100% undivided attention, because there are TWO (or more) of them! - that's what I'd thought it'd be like here after 3 weeks of undivided attention. But, they are doing so well! Other than being non stop chatterboxes :) hee hee! Audrey is loud when she talks and she has been talking a LOT. Eliza's newest thing is "I DO!!!" while she raises her hand - it's adorable and I hope to get video :)

I'm feeling better too - have lots to do.... laundry, getting everything put away, back to teaching piano and church and all that jazz. I did get out with one of my close friends last night, so that was a LOT of fun!!! I can't wait to get out a bit more and catch up with all my friends :)

**** added to say: We went to Wal-Mart yesterday and Audrey was drooling over all the different foods that we didn't have while in Malaysia! It was so funny hearing her say "Oh look mom! I want those... can we get those?! Oh mom! Do you remember these, I want these!" LOL We ended up going home with Doritos, Whoppers and mint chocolate chip ice cream :) ha ha! Actually, we ATE the Doritos while we were on our way home! ha ha. Also, while we were there, they had a guy over the intercom say "come get the great low prices of our women's apparel... only $5, $3 and even just $1!" and Audrey yells... "Hey Mom! One DOLLAR! That's Cheap!" ROFLOL!!! Can you tell we've done some shopping in the last few weeks :) :P ****

Home At Last

2009-02-15T03:55:00.003-06:00

We arrived home yesterday around 4pm (Valentines Day!) When we got home, we all just basically slept. The girls did amazing on the trip home.... sleeping most of the way (they both have colds, along with my mom)

So all that sleeping led to us being up at 3am with the girls. So we all had a little snack and watched My Little Pony and now the girls are trying to sleep more - we'll see how that goes.

I am going to be catching up on lots of stuff this week..... I have over 500 emails in my inbox, some laundry to do and need to go grocery shopping.

Overall, it was an amazing trip, but it's good to be home.

Latest Update

2009-02-10T18:51:00.002-06:00

ML has the latest update - along with more photos on his blog HERE. So go check it out!!!

We are in his hometown the next couple days and leave friday! ah! Only three more days here. We leave Friday at 9pm - which is really Friday at 7:15am for you all! Please pray for our travel home that no one would get ill and we'd get on our planes in time! :) hee hee.

MORE PHOTOS!

2009-02-03T10:49:00.005-06:00

We have been here 10 days! Crazy the amount of photos I have taken! Don't worry, I've only pulled the good ones for you all :)
I added more to this album on facebook:
MALAYSIA PHOTOS ALBUM I

and I had to make a new album for some of the new photos I added tonight
MALAYSIA PHOTOS ALBUM II

enjoy taking a peek into our vacation!

PHOTOS

2009-01-30T19:26:00.002-06:00

I couldn't get photos added on blogger for some reason. I tried adding 5 photos last night, and after waiting for 40 minutes, I gave up! LOL I did get photos added to facebook though! So if you are my friend on there, go check them out. I will update with more photos of our Malaysia Adventure as I get free time away from the beach and such :) heee heee... I *think* you can take a peek by using this link, if you aren't on facebook. Give it a try. PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK

Also, yesterday, Audrey was ill... throwing up and such with a tummy bug. So we didn't get to do much. ML and I did take a stroll along the beach and later in the afternoon we went parasailing! WHOO HOO! They wanted 400 ringgit for it (about 112 US dollars) but Sonny (ml's dad) talked them down to 150 ringgit! (42 US dollars for both ML and I to do it!) How awesome is that?! I have photos I'll try loading on facebook later :) Well I'm off to the beach to join the others.

I'm Featured on Digital Scrapbooking!

2009-01-26T18:42:00.002-06:00

Check out where I was featured!!! :) How fun! The Argus Leader contacted me and did a phone interview and then had a photographer come out :) It was SO much fun! Thanks Janna :)

You can check out the article here: DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING

We've Arrived!

2009-01-26T16:45:00.002-06:00

We are finallly here! Have been for a day now :) Minh Lee has typed up a bunch about our trip here and up to this morning... so instead of spending my time "re-inventing" the wheel with our trip, I'll just link you to his blog! :) So if you want to read all about it, just visit his blog :)

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM

ONE DAY!

2009-01-22T09:46:00.002-06:00

I can't believe we leave tomorrow! the countdown calendar with Audrey has been fun. It was a real eye opener this morning knowing that tomorrow when she pulls of the last page, it means we go!

My mom and dad come tonight - we'll be eating out for dinner as a family and then after the girls go to bed, we'll finish up some bills and things to get in the mail as well as make sure EVERYTHING is packed! I double checked this morning, but I'm sure I'll do it again tonight :) ha ha... if you know me well, then you'd know that without me saying it! ha ha!

This morning so far, I've done 3 loads of laundry (mostly sheets), made Audrey's bed, swept and mopped the kitchen / entry way, put dishes away, cleaned breakfast dishes, double checked our bags, and called two different places. As you can see, today's focus is making sure the house is clean as there's not much else left to do (thankfully!) That way I don't need to be stressed today! hee hee :) I've really been working on my anxiety - stressing out. I know that I need to give things to God, and even when I do I still feel the stress of it... it's all about letting go of the need to feel in control and stay in control. But at least I'm working on it. Now - if you had known me 5 years ago, you'd think I was crazy high strung and overly stressed about things! LOL I'm so glad that God has helped me with this!!!

Anyways - I'm off to finish up a couple more things! btw... I'm sure we'll (Minh Lee and I) be posting some photos, etc. while we are away! So keep checking back once in a while!

A New Hair Do

2009-01-21T21:26:00.001-06:00

What do you think???? I LOVE it! :)

Three Days!

2009-01-20T10:56:00.002-06:00

Yep - just three days left!!! I can't wait! I have everything packed... just need ML's clothes in the suitcase then I can zip it up! then a few last minute things friday morning for the carry on bag :) I can't believe it's so close!!!

Also, I am CRAZY excited about something... I can't share it with you all yet, but It's so neat and way fun regarding my MADE DIGITAL business!! :D hee hee...

Photos from the Weekend

2009-01-18T16:10:00.003-06:00

Eliza was being SO cute after dinner last night - she kept posing with her head on her hands - so cute! :)

Eliza with Uncle Kevin this weekend... she LOVES Uncle Kevin! Seriously - she'd rather have him hold her than anyone else and he can make her laugh so much more than anyone else!

Audrey loving that Grandpa and Grandma were visiting this weekend! Even grandpa came this weekend because he wanted to spend time with us before we left for our trip :)

THIS was absolutely hilarious to me! Audrey wanted to call grandma, so I let her call and talk to grandma. While on the phone, she decided she needed to write a list of things to take to malaysia... so she put the phone between her ear and her shoulder so she could write - how cute is that?! :)

5 days left & Thankful for God's protection

2009-01-18T15:58:00.003-06:00

Well, this morning Audrey pulled off the sheet for the calendar to reveal that we only have FIVE days until our trip!!! We are SO excited!!! And this afternoon I purchased the rest of the stuff I needed to for our trip!

After church, on our way to the store we got a call from my brother. Apparently they were walking to their car from the grocery store parking lot... my SIL was holding their 8 month old daughter and was hit by a car that was backing out of their parking spot, as she was walking. The car hit her so hard that she dropped Essy! After being checked by nurses/doctors at the hospital, everyone is OK thank GOD! Michele is pretty bruised and sore and Essy has a bump on her head. If you read this and have time to say a little prayer for them to heal quickly from this, it'd be appreciated!!!

My lil brother and mom just left to go back home and the next time I see my mom it will be for the trip! I'm always sad when she leaves on Sunday afternoon though!

btw... did I mention I lost another 2 pounds?! That makes a total loss of 14 pounds in 4 months :) yay me!

Well, I'm off to continue with the packing and list making :)

9 Days!

2009-01-14T16:57:00.004-06:00

Yes, you'll probably see how many days left until the big trip until we leave LOL - so plan on it! hee hee...

anyways - I HAD to come on and journal two things that Audrey said today!

Earlier while I was packing, the girls were playing well... all was quiet and then all of a sudden I heard Audrey run in the hall and say "Gotta Clean it up, Liza! I'll grab toilet paper!"
So then I said "Is everything OK?" and I look over to her running back to the room.
Audrey looked straight at me and said "Don't you Peek!" and then turned around and closed the door.... there was just something about the way she said "don't you peek" that made it hilarious. Turned out that Eliza spilled bubble solution on the art desk - oops! I helped them clean up :)

Then just a bit ago, Audrey was helping me find my cell phone - a common occurance here :) - and I finally found it and I thanked her for looking with me and then stroked her cheek and said "Thank you for being such a great helper Audrey!" She looked at me with this huge smile and said "You make my heart feel SUPER happy!" Isn't that so sweet and adorable?!

SOOO today I got lots of things done! I packed all the snacks, all of Audrey's clothes and have all the carry on items in a pile and all of Eliza's clothes ready to go in the space saver bag!

I also got my front closets cleaned out and organized (something I've been wanting to do for a while) and got the three boxes emptied that have been sitting in our room since we moved in! LOL!! Anyways - I feel pretty great about all the accomplishments I've done this week!

10 days and counting!

2009-01-13T09:14:00.002-06:00

Yes, only 10 days til the big trip! OH My! LOTS of plans and things to do/get done in these last 10 days.... and the days are flying by, yet somehow, not fast enough :)

We are thrilled and absolutely can not wait!

I am still working out almost every morning at 5am - I usually go to an Aqua Fitness class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I absolutely love that class! I'm looking forward to the circuit classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and the Biking class on Friday! I know you all will think I'm crazy, but I really truly honestly LOVE to work out! There's something about the sense of accomplishment and keeping your body healthy and in shape! Did I mention I lost another 2 pounds? That makes it a total of 12 pounds lost for me since October! YAY me! :D

Malaysia Calendar & My Little Artist

2009-01-08T15:48:00.004-06:00

Here is Audrey with her Malaysia Calendar on Tuesday... she's pulling off Monday's day count to reveal Tuesday's saying there's only 17 days left.....

She was VERY excited!!!

In fact, she was SO excited that here, she is jumping up and down!!! LOL (btw... today we are down to 15 days until the big trip!)

Audrey has really become quite the little artist lately... she LOVES drawing people. Today while at my piano teacher meeting, I sat her and Eliza down with some crayons and then went to sit right outside the room... she came over to me after a few minutes with this drawing... she said "Look mommy! This is me when I was ice skating!" SO cute! You can even see her big ice skates in the picture :) hee hee.

We LOVE megna doodles at our house! We have a large one and then two small ones with books attached... here she drew another picture after lunch today. "Look mommy! This is me when I was born" ha ha!

I HAD to share these photos because they are SO cute. The other day we visited my AWESOME friend Amy who just had a little baby girl (her second daughter... so we have much in common in that aspect!) Audrey was SO excited to meet little Hannah and she asked me the day before if she'd be able to hold her, so she was really happy when she got to hold Hannah. Eliza loves babies too :) So she's always trying to point to their eyes and such... you moms know the drill.... hee hee!

First Hair Cut!!!

2009-01-05T20:43:00.002-06:00

Here is Audrey this morning, a "before" shot.....

We were suppose to have a friend of ours come over to cut her hair, but she forgot to bring her scissors!!! :) Soooooooo I couldn't let Audrey down... I had already put her down for nap and she knew that if she went to sleep right away she'd get to see our friend and get her hair cut and she was SUPER excited! So, I remembered the haircutting place called "Cost Cutters" that we have here and there was even a $3 off coupon! Also, I know the manager of the stores here, so that helped a little :) OH and she was WAYYYY excited to sit on the horse :) hee hee!Audrey did great staying still! She was SO cute and let the hair dresser spray water on her hair and cut and everything! I was actually really surprised!

AND.... The after shot....

Yeah... not much different! LOL I only wanted it trimmed just like how her hair grew out, which is a beautiful layered look in the front. I think she did a fabulous job by keeping it just trimmed and only taking the "dead" ends off :) YAY for Audrey! I'm so proud of you honey! :)

A Little Bit of This.... and A Little Bit of That

2009-01-04T23:28:00.003-06:00

Just some miscellaneous stuff to blog about today!

1 - Just 19 days until we leave for Malaysia! I absolutely CAN NOT WAIT! I have started making lists and tonight got out the suitcases to start packing. My mom is ordering those bags that are space saver bags... they are awesome and I can't wait to use some for our clothes - hopefully they really DO save space ;) haha. tonight, ML sat down with Audrey and made a calendar countdown.... I'll have to post a photo tomorrow when I get new batteries in the camera :) hee hee. Anyways - Audrey is WAY excited about her calendar for Malaysia!

2 - Audrey is saying the most adorable things lately and I NEED to start writing them down! So I'm going to start a side bar thing with cute things she says! :) For instance... today, when I got the suitcases out, she ran over and gathered her new dora underwear and ran over to me with them all rolled up in her hands, stuck them out toward me and said "Don't forget to pack my underwears, mommy!!!" LOL!!! She is just the cutest! I couldn't help but laugh :)

3 - I'm WAY excited to have gotten ALL the new toys put away! Not only that, but I also got the entire toy closet labeled this weekend! YAY! That has been something I've been meaning to do since we moved in. I love when things are actually LABELED!

4 - I have SO many clothes to sell that Eliza has grown out of! She's now in 18 month for sure, so I have newborn to 12 month to sell... anyone interested.... anyone.... anyone?! hee hee.

5 - Tomorrow is a busy day! We have playgroup and then Eliza gets some shots.... then a friend is coming over to cut my hair and trim Audrey's hair... her first haircut!!! :) I'm way excited!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-01T12:55:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

I can't believe it's 2009!!! I'm so excited that it's *finally* 2009! For the last 4 years, I have been looking forward to this year so we could go to Malaysia again! Just three weeks and we'll be on our way!!!

Big Girl Underwear at Night!

2008-12-30T09:11:00.003-06:00

Last night, ML told Audrey she could wear underwear to bed! She has waken up with dry diapers for the past few weeks, but I just haven't taken the plunge to letting her sleep in her underwear... so she was REALLY excited!

Here she is showing off her big girl underwear she chose to sleep in! :)

She is WAY excited here... just after daddy told her she could wear big girl underwear to bed.

Here's Eliza and Audrey being tickled by Uncle Kevin yesterday! :) It turned this photo too... NO idea why it's doing this - it hasn't before?!

And Eliza was loving when Uncle Kevin would lift her up to try and touch the lights!

Here's a cute one of Eliza last night before bed... love the leftover dinner on her face!!! LOL

OH and btw... Audrey woke up with dry underwear...... I think I'm ready to take the plunge! and she has been more than ready the last few weeks ;) ha ha. Now if I can just feel as comfortable doing that for naps!

Ice Skating

2008-12-29T09:32:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was a fantastic day and the weather was great as well! It was 33 degrees here!!! So, we went Ice Skating for the first time as a family... (something grandma has been wanting to do for over a year now) I don't think ML and I have even gone ice skating together?!? It brought back fantastic childhood memories for me. I remember going to the ice rink when I was a child/pre-teen and actually I use to be able to do a few jumps and things... not now! LOL Although I was surprised at how well I could do after all those years. Grandma took us skating and was holding Eliza while she took this photo :)
Audrey wasn't sure what to think about the skates and had a hard time walking in them and didn't really skate with them... more like Grandma and I pulling her and her trying to skate.... although the skates were at least 1 size, if not two sizes too large for her! So that could have been a bit of it. She did tell me later that she "really really really liked skating on the ice" :) cute.

After a little while, grandma helped her take her skates off and get her boots back on. Then I took her out for a skate and a few spins... it was a lot of fun and she especially liked when I would spin with her :)

Eliza was a little more unsure and stayed by the edge of the ice mostly... Grandma was great with her and held her while I took Audrey out.

Here is ML out on the ice... he said this is his third time that he can remember! hee hee... he actually did quite well, imo! We even went around the loop once together while grandma watched the girls!

Overall, Audrey enjoyed her boots on the ice more than trying to skate LOL... she ended up going off and playing in the snow around the edge of the ice... but hey - at least she had fun!

It was SO much fun... I am sure we'll be doing this again!

New Page

2008-12-27T00:45:00.003-06:00

I haven't shared many scrapbook pages lately, because I haven't gotten around to doing any! But with the holidays and all the extra time on my hands, I've been using my photoshop like crazy and it's only re-affirmed how much I love desiging!!! So thought I'd share this 8x8 page I did of the girls.

Credits: Carina Gardner, Swatches - Mary.

I love these photos of the girls and I am loving all of Carina's updates to her kits lately! She is now at 2Peas, which I think is awesome! :) I absolutely LOVE designing for her and using her products, and being the CT manager and her trusting me in that position is such an honor!

Anyways - I absolutely LOVE this page and I think I am finally out of my creative rut! hee hee

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T16:03:00.003-06:00

From our family to yours!

Desktop

2008-12-22T16:23:00.006-06:00

Check out what I just designed and loaded to my desktop!!! :)

Wanna see it on my puter?! Here it is!!! I love it :)

I do this in my business as well as blog headers, invitations and announcements... so head over now to get your own!!! :) OR email me :)

Here is the link to go DIRECTLY to the "Personal Desktop" area on my business site.... OH and if you mention you saw this blog post, you can get yours personally done for only $20!!! *expires Jan 5, 2009*

New Looks

2008-12-21T22:45:00.003-06:00

Was feeling a little creative tonight and decided to finally make ML's new header that he's been asking for the last couple months! LOL I thought I'd go ahead and make one for myself too. Hope you all like the new looks! :)

Minh Lee's Blog: Click to Visit!

Scary Morning

2008-12-20T18:56:00.002-06:00

Well, we had a pretty scary morning this morning. Audrey and Grandma were making muffins and all of a sudden I heard my mom yell my name. I came up just thinking that they needed help with something, but my mom said that Audrey got a hold of a mini butterfinger that I had up in my counter simple additions thingie.... and she had taken a bite. (for those of you who don't know, she's allergic to peanuts) I was freaked and didn't really know what to do. apparently she didn't like it and spit it out and my mom had already had her rinse and spit. Soooo I took washed her mouth and her hands and then took her into the bathroom, grabbed a new toothbrush, opened it and brushed her mouth out really well and then made her rinse and spit two more times. We just continued to watch her and make sure that nothing was wrong with her breathing and skin....

About an hour later, she threw up a TON (sorry tmi! and gross!) I know that's a form of "reaction" and then understood why she wasn't eating/drinking anything for breakfast.

I called a 24 hour nurse line that our insurance carries and explained everything just so I was sure on everything I needed to watch for.

Thankfully she is doing much better now... although that was quite scary.

And in the last 2 years normally I wouldn't even have anything not safe for her sitting in the house but I got these mini candy bars from a mom's event and thought it'd be fun to have one here and there... and to be honest, normally I'd scarf them all down in one or two afternoons, but being that I've been watching what I eat, I managed to withstand that temptation! LOL

On the plus, I think it made Audrey truly understand WHY she needs to ask before she eats anything... we constantly tell her this and she's really good about asking for the most part.

I'm so thankful for God keeping her safe today... it could have been so much worse, and that scares me!

Longest Nap Ever!

2008-12-17T16:58:00.004-06:00

Yes, that is Eliza sleeping - today she went to sleep at 2:30 and I laid her on the couch... typically she'd wake up about 20-30 mins later and want to get up and nurse - even if I put her in her crib, she'll only sleep a good 30 mins. to my complete surprise, it is now 5pm and she is STILL sleeping!!! I don't even know of a time that she has slept longer than 1 hour for me! (I laid Audrey down at 2pm and she is still sleeping as well!) What a fantastic (quiet) afternoon!!! :)

Using Scissors

2008-12-17T15:40:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we went to my friend's house to have a mini playdate and she sent us home with some awesome and fun books... they are "klutz" books that have activities that you do and Audrey has fallen in love with them! AND they give us something to do when we are stuck in doors with the yucky weather this time of year. (((THANKS AMY!!!)))

Anyways, this morning she wanted to do the "scissors" one... she LOVES using scissors and recently has gotten pretty good with them!

here are some photos of her making her chain project from one of the books...

She did most all of that on her own! The only thing I helped with was the first two strands of showing her how to put them through the first circle :) Otherwise, she cut them all on her own, got the tape herself and put it on each strand and wrapped it around - all on her own! I think she did a fabulous job!!! :)

Completely Motivated!!!

2008-12-12T13:57:00.002-06:00

Well, I am now completely motivated in my working out and eating right. I typically don't weigh myself unless at my mom's house, simply because she has a scale and I don't LOL. So last night at the gym I weighed myself and since the last time I was at her house (2 months ago) I have lost 10 pounds!!! How awesome is that?!

Feeling Good!

2008-12-10T14:16:00.002-06:00

The last 10 days I have been VERY aware of what I have been putting in my mouth (eating) and I have also been working out a lot more than I have ever before. It's amazing the difference it makes in your life and how you feel!

Not only am I down to only ONE 12oz can of coke a day but I've been staying between 1500-1800 calories each day! YAY me! I know once I stop nursing it'll have to be a little less than that, but right now, it's completely do-able!

We have been trying out a gym near us this week for free and I have loved the classes I've gone to! I went monday morning to a mat blast class and got through the whole thing while the girls played in the "kidzone" play area.... yes, even Eliza! LOL She cried off and on, as usual - but I got through a class! :) and what's even better is that it's only $1 for each of the girls for 2 hours! So I only paid $2 to take them there for 2 hours on monday morning while I was working out... Then that night ML took them to the pool (which is AWESOME! with a mini kids slide and a huge slide for older kids) while I went to a step class.... this class kicked my butt!!! I believe it's 45 mins long and I could only make it through 15 mins!!! LOL It's a start right?

Monday night before bed I got all ready to go in the morning at 5:30... got my water bottle filled and in the fridge, had my bag all ready and packed, set my alarm. Then Tuesday morning I woke up at 7am! WHAT?! yep... my alarm was set to PM!! agh... anyways, I still managed to work out at night at home!!

Then this morning, I got up at 5:30 and headed to a pilates class and Absolutely LOVED it!!! I would SO go every week... even two or three times a week if possible!

So, yes I'm a bit sore, however it will be worth it in the long run ;)

Portraits!

2008-12-04T10:49:00.002-06:00

We had some portraits done at JC Penney on the 23rd for Audrey's 3rd birthday and then also for some family photos.... check em out HERE! Enter "Theresa Goon" for the customer name :)
AND let me know what you think!!! We actually already got the photos back - picked them up yesterday!

Thankful

2008-11-29T21:03:00.000-06:00

Wow - what an amazing Thanksgiving weekend! I know I am definitely soooooo blessed and am incredibly thankful for everything that God has blessed me with. Here are a few things that come to mind:

1. Jesus - something I am constantly thankful for everyday... just the very fact that He would humble himself to save someone like me. To die for everyone that we would have life... simply incredible and something to be in awe of.

2. Family - I have THE most amazing family!!! I am thankful especially that my family is full of love and laughter, something not every family has.

3. Friends! - it has been hard to deal with so much change in my life, but God has been faithful and brought me some awesome friends and I have been meeting many new people the last few weeks which has really been a stretch for me.

4. ML has a job and I have piano students and digital work - with the economy the way it is now and so many lay offs and such, I am especially thankful for this.

5. Church - I remember thinking how awful it was going to be to try and find a church like the one we had to leave when we moved... but I am SOO thankful for our new church home here. They have really made us feel welcomed and like family, and the girls too! Audrey loves our church and screams the name of it with a little giggle every time we go there :) God is faithful!

Audrey Turns Three - Nov. 22 - 2008

2008-11-24T22:39:00.005-06:00

My beautiful little Audrey Nicole turned THREE on Saturday, November 22nd. And to think that just 3 years ago today - on Thanksgiving Day - November 2005 we brought her home from the hospital.

From there, she learned to smile, to coo and to roll over, walk and then crawl and say her first words... we learned that we can love someone more than we ever thought we could. Then, November 2006 our baby turned ONE year old.

And in just another short year, she learned to have temper tantrums, to talk in full sentences and how to love her little sister, Eliza. She learned a lot that year - how to be a big sister and how to sleep in her own room with her toddler bed. And November 2007, she turned TWO.

And here we are November 2008 and yet again she has learned so much in just a short year... she has shown that she can handle more than I ever thought she'd have to... a move to a new city with a new house and a new room, along with a new bed. She shows so much interest in being a "mommy" and loves belts, shoes and clothes... oh and don't forget the pretties. She's learned to give me attitude - both with the looks she gives and attitude in her talk :) and she's learned to do so much such as writing letters and number, spelling & writing her first and last name, learning our address and sooooo much more. She is so bright (smart) and tells me something new each day, adorable thoughts, intelligent facts and such. She truly is a joy to have, even with the no nap days, the marker everywhere with her love of drawing and the temper tantrums due to her passion for things that really she shouldn't have or be doing :) hee hee. Yes, this November the 22nd, 2008, my baby Audrey turned THREE. and I can't believe it. I know - some days I think "only three" and others I think "wow... already three?".

Audrey has been facinated with numbers and sugar cookies lately and that's how we came with the theme for her birthday - it's all about the 3 here! :) We made 3 shaped sugar cookies and I ventured into making a 3 shaped birthday cake for her. Even her birthday party - which was suppose to start at 4, really started right after 3pm! LOL

The other ONE thing that she really wanted for her birthday was party hats. ALL I heard about was how she was going to have party hats... so we did - DORA party hats!

I had to get photos of her party outfit cause she looked sooo pretty in it!

and I DID manage to finally get an OK shot, even though most of the photos lately have turned out like this next one..........

LOL!!! That's my Audrey! Always trying to be silly :) I couldn't even blame the sillyness on the sugar or cake yet, since this was before the party started! ha ha....

Here she is opening the gift that ML and I got her - a baby doll that really talks and moves from fisher-price. Yeah - it's one of those toys you buy on clearance the year before and cross your fingers hope that they love by the next year LOL... RIGHT ON! She LOVES this toy and has been playing with it non stop since!!! SCORE! :)

We had so much fun having my brother Jeremy and his family over as well as my mom and dad and my great friend L. :) Everyone was so kind to stop by for her party and I know she LOVED having each one of you here!!!

Later that night, she had to wear her monkey pajamas because grandma pointed out that the one monkey was audrey and the other was grandma and they are best friends... so Audrey immediately loves those pajamas. Anything with monkeys and best friends is awesome for her LOL. She called for me and I walked in to seeing her like this... LOL! Comfy! :) Reading the Dora books she got from my brother and his family...

OH and lets not forget Eliza!!! She had fun too :) And here's an updated photo of her for those grandparents out there that use these photos for their computer desktops :) hee hee.

After Audrey's party, we headed to the Falls - an attraction here - where they light up all the Christmas lights and have carriage rides, and reindeer and camels to view. The girls thought that was awesome. Then we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner and so Audrey could play some games and go on some rides. I think she had a fabulous birthday :)

Here she is today - my now Three year old!!! Where has the time gone? I know the next years will go quite fast, so I'm cherishing every moment of it now...... Love you Audrey!

MY THREE YEAR OLD

2008-11-23T13:57:00.003-06:00

WOW - How crazy is that - my little Audrey, three years old! She is soooo proud to be three and all week I would hear "hey - that says three... that's how old I'm going to be!" and then starting yesterday (her 3 year birthday) the saying was different "hey - that says three.... that's how old I am!"

I have LOTS to share, but it will have to wait for when I actually have time - like tonight. I can't believe I've been so busy that I haven't been able to post for over a week! crazy how life happens huh? :) Anyways - more on Audrey's birthday party tomorrow!

Birthday Invite - Holiday Cards!

2008-11-11T12:19:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone - I'm SO excited cause in just 2 weeks, Audrey will be THREE!!! Can you believe that?! I sat down to design her birthday invites late last night and finished up during "Kai-Lan" this morning :) ha ha....

Here it is!

Of course, I smudged out the detail info :) I can't wait to go get these printed and sent out later today!

Also, just a reminder that Christmas is only a Month away!!! Can you believe that?! I'm designing Christmas Cards and would love the opportunity to work with you for a custom design!!! Be sure to check out my site - MADE DIGITAL !

Weekend to Remember

2008-11-10T16:06:00.004-06:00

Last year, I heard from a friend about this weekend to remember conference that is for marriages... whether couples needed help, or just wanted to go and get "refreshed". Well, the conference was just weeks away and I knew that we wouldn't be able to afford it, so I wrote down on my calendar to look into being a group coordinator. May this last year, just a few months before we moved, I signed up and became a group coordinator. This gave our friends, family and us a great discount rate - which made it more affordable to us.

This last weekend was the date of the conference and ML and I did indeed have the opportunity to attend! I was SOOO excited and am so glad that we had the opportunity to attend! It started Friday night. When we got there, they handed us booklets and a pen, which we used all weekend. After the Friday night session we had the chance to go out to Applebee's with my brother and his wife. (while my mom watched our girls, Audrey & Eliza, and also Jeremy and Michele's newest little one, Essy - whom my daughters simply adore!) When we got home, all the girls were in bed, sound asleep. When ML and I went up to go to bed, there was a present and card on our bed from my parents... a marriage book and cash. How awesome is that? and a blessing indeed!

Saturday the conference went all day - although we did come home for lunch to see the girls, give my mom a tiny break and for Michele and I to nurse our little ones. Saturday night, they ended at quarter to 5 so that couples could have a "date night". ML and I went out to a movie "Fireproof" (I kept hearing great things about this movie and it is indeed a fabulous movie that I highly recommend!!!) and then we went out to dinner at a nicer resturant we wouldn't take our girls out to :) which is where we shared our "love letters" that we wrote during one of the sessions at the conference. And then back to the hotel to our King Suite (which my parents paid for - THANK YOU! - don't I have amazing parents?)

The conference started Sunday morning at 9am, so we had plenty of time to eat a great continental breakfast and grab starbucks before we went to the conference. The conference ended with the couples standing up and stating their vows to one another - reminding me of our wedding day 6 years ago, I could picture my hair up, my beautifully manicured hands and my gorgeous white dress. But our "Weekend to Remember" didn't end there, ML and I called my mom to let her know we'd be coming home and she said the girls were both almost asleep, so ML and I ended up going out for lunch too! :) OH and not only that, but my mom did the girls' laundry while I was gone! Can you BELIEVE that?! holy cow... like watching the girls, the marriage book, cash and hotel room weren't enough?!?! LOL You are SUCH a blessing Mom & Dad!!!

Honestly our weekend was definitely a Weekend to Remember - and I now see why they titled the conference that AND why I had heard such great things about this conference! I'm SO thankful that we were able to attend and plan to use our group code for years to come... let me know if you want the group code to save money, because you can use mine too!! :) Then you can have a Weekend to Remember with your spouse as well! :)

President Obama

2008-11-05T14:40:00.002-06:00

Wow... it's weird even typing "President Obama" into the subject line there! Anyhow... I decided how can I not put on here one of the most important events of this time right now? So I am going to say... I went and voted yesterday, with both girls in our wonderful stroller eating the homemade sugar cookies we had made the night before. I didn't have to wait in line, the girls behaved and I didn't make a mistake on my ballot! yay!

Last night I waited in anticipation... who was the next President of the United States of America?! The moment I turned on my TV and saw Obama was winning, I just kinda knew... it was going to be him.

Although that is disappointing for me (and honestly a bit scary as well), I have complete respect for him as our new President and honestly hopes that he proves me wrong! :) AND I am proud of our country and how far we have come. I don't get how people can look at someone and think differently about them simply because of the color of their skin? (although that could be a whole OTHER post! LOL)

All I can do now is continue to pray for our country... which honestly, we all should be doing anyways, no matter who is holding the presidency.

God Bless America!

Celebrating Six Years

2008-11-03T09:22:00.002-06:00

That's right, Yesterday, November 2, 2008, ML and I celebrated six years of marriage! :) A little hard to believe at some times!

Friday night we went out LATE to a nice italian resturant, which was very nice - we hadn't been there before and it is excellent! would def. go there again :)

Saturday afternoon we went out to a movie - Changeling - together. What a good movie, although I hated the ending LOL.

Next weekend we are continuing to celebrate by going to the Weekend to Remember conference here and getting a hotel room even. My wonderful mother will be taking care of our kids - how nice!!! Can't wait to go - I've heard great things about this conference!!!

ML - I love you even more than the day we met and my love continues to grow for you with each passing day. (K) I couldn't have chosen a better husband to spend this wonderful journey of life with! XOXO

Surprisingly Fantastic Day!

2008-10-30T21:36:00.002-05:00

You know how you kinda go to bed dreading the next day because there's nothing fun going on and it's just same old same old??? Well, thanks to a fabulous new friend I have who invited the girls and I to join her and her daughter, I didn't have to dread that same old same old today!!! :)

Late last night I was asked to join her and her daughter to the park and zoo... sounded like a LOT more fun than staying home all morning and I needed the van anyways (we only have 1 vehicle) because ML and I had chiro appts right before lunchtime.

WELL, we went to the park first and the girls all had great fun sliding and in the swings, and before long, the zoo opened and we had a blast running (literally for my friend and her daughter who is a busy little girl! LOL) through the zoo and seeing all different kinds of animals! We even fed some of the goats and ducks! Audrey LOVED that - even tonight she was talking about that!

ML had text'd me to let me know he wasn't going to be able to make the chiro appt, so I rescheduled and my friend, her daughter, the girls and I all went out for lunch!!! Even better because we went to the most fabulous kid friendly place ever - Pizza Hut! yay! :) I LOVE Pizza Hut! AND it's even better when you have a free lunch buffet card ;) hee hee.

Anyways - Even though ML had to work late and I had to teach piano with the girls in the playroom while I taught - It wasn't so bad because I had so much fun this morning with a fabulous new friend and her daughter!

Thanks for such an amazing time this morning, and a much needed time out, Amy!!! :)

Finally some good results!

2008-10-26T17:28:00.002-05:00

We received Eliza's results regarding celiac disease. 3 months ago we had to get her tested for this as to her GI's recommendation and it came back with weird results, so they wanted us to redo the test... one screaming blood draw later and we find out that her test is normal!! Praise God - no celiac disease here! :) Now if we can just find out why she has some of these digestive issues!

Worse than thought

2008-10-22T16:11:00.003-05:00

Audrey's allergy test was this morning. Good news or Bad news first??? I'll do bad news so I end on a positive note!

First, Audrey showed the Dr. her awful skin because of her eczema and he prescribed more cream for us to use when it breaks out really badly. Then they had her take her shirt off and lay on her stomach while they did the skin test on her back. She did amazingly well! Didn't even cry - I think she was just more scared because she didn't know what was going on or what they were going to do.

Test Results -

Bad News: Audrey is STILL allergic to peanuts... not only that, but it's worse than we originally thought. We've only had blood tests done, but today we did skin prick test done and the hive she got was pretty big. She won't re-act if she's just in the same room as peanut products, but if she gets them on her skin, she will react and it's best to wash her off with soap and water. She has never had a peanut or peanut butter before, and as of now, will not have them ever. We still can believe for God's complete healing though - after all, God is bigger and more powerful than a stupid test right? :P

Good News: I had her tested for Tree Nuts, Fish and Shellfish and those all came back as negative!! :) YAY! Even though she's tested negative for Tree Nuts, we'll still stay cautious with those as many times they are processed (in the same facility) as peanuts.

I think today was so awful because I had HUGE hopes that she was outgrowing it because of the recent blood test results and then the skin test shows that it's actually worse than we thought! I know there could be many other things much worse than this that she could have, so I'm thankful it's "just peanuts" however, still disappointed, which I think is okay for me to feel that way right now.

Our allergist said not to even get her retested for many many years.... we'll see about that.

So for now, No peanuts/peanut products/may contains peanuts/manufactured in the same facility for us!!!

Eliza - 15 months

2008-10-21T08:45:00.002-05:00

October 18th, Eliza turned 15 months! We had her check up yesterday... she got 2 shots and a blood draw (to retest for celiac) She did pretty good with the shots, but I could hear her screaming while I was waiting outside with Audrey during the blood draw. :( Poor girl!

She really is growing up so quickly!
Height 31-1/2 inches
Weight 21 pounds 15-1/2 ounces

She's thinning out (has always been long and skinny) now that she's SO active and only will eat if she gets to feed herself.

She is doing everything she should be doing at this age and more - so that's neat! She knows how to say her name and also says mama, dada, tickle, apple, bye bye, hi, and arf for dog... and knows MANY body parts including her nose, eyes, ears, tongue, head, hands, feet, etc....

She nurses only 2-3 times a day and sleeps through the night from about 8/8:30 to 7 most nights.

We've learned she's VERY strong willed and stubborn. I thought Audrey was, but wow... Eliza already is learning to throw tantrums - at 15 months?! I don't think Audrey did that until 18-24 months?! Eliza is also very sweet, shy and flirts giving smiles to strangers she likes - it's so cute! She is also total girly girl - loving purses, dolls, and pretties. The first thing people say when they see her is "Look at those beautiful big eyes!!!" or something about her eyes. I have to agree, her eyes are gorgeous. And her smile is the sunshine of my cloudy days. That's my Sweet Eliza!

What to do with only One?

2008-10-18T00:48:00.002-05:00

SO, it has been OVER 24 hours since I've seen Audrey.... She left last night with Grandma and spent the night at grandma's without us there for the very first time!!! How exciting!!!

I miss her SOOO much!!!! I can't wait to give her a HUGE hug and see her gorgeous smile and hear her adorable voice and silly toddler ideas tomorrow!

I've been told a few things:

1- she's behaving - that's good!

2- she woke up at 4am because she had to go poopy - and so she went in the toilet and kept her diaper dry all night - Woo Hoo Audrey!!!

3- my cousin wants to keep her as his little sister!

ha ha!!!

My day today seemed very........ different! It's amazing how a 3 year old dictates what will go on during the day! Eliza and I just didn't know what to do with ourselves! This morning we played in the playroom together, then we went to Panera for a tour with our MOMS club. I had a blueberry scone while I was there that was delish!

This afternoon, Eliza slept for an hour and a half! That has to be close to a record :) ha ha. While she slept, I set up for my second freezer cooking session! Last night, the first group of ladies came over and we finished 11 meals for each family in 5 hours!!! and Tonight, we finished in just FOUR hours!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Sunday will be the third, and last cooking group. I can't wait for more next month! hee hee. It has been SOO much fun to organize all of this and I'm SO glad that I did!

Tomorrow is my aunt's funeral... it will be nice to get together with family and see everyone, however I wish it was under much different circustances - for a different reason. It will be a hard day.

WHY?????

2008-10-14T22:59:00.003-05:00

Every wonder WHY so many awful things go on within a certain period of weeks? It just seems like it never ends, and right now, I feel like I'm losing so many loved ones.

Tonight my mom called me and had to tell me that my Aunt Patty passed away...... that's all I can type right now, I'm too upset and sad to type much more. Just please pray - especially for her husband and young daughter.

This is all too much right now for me.

TWENTY-FIVE

2008-10-11T10:54:00.003-05:00

Yes, today, 10.11.08 I turn a quarter century old!!! at 1:11pm I will be 25!

My birthday weekend has already started with many surprises... Last night ML took me out for dinner and my friend came to watch the girls - and gave me the most AMAZING starbucks coffee cup I had my eyes on! Thanks L! ... THEN, my brother came down the stairs with my mom!!! WOW! I SO didn't expect him to be coming!!! Then, just 1/2 hour later, My mom said "Lets GO!" and took me out to a movie "The Duchess" - great movie! Just very serious and sad, but LOVE that time period. The clothes and the way they speak.... gotta love that! Then this morning, my mom got me a mocha and my dad came! How fun!! :)

can't believe I'm TWENTY-FIVE! :D

Less than 80 Days away!

2008-10-09T23:15:00.003-05:00

Yes, Christmas is just 78 days away! Can you believe that?!

Now's the time to order your Holiday cards & invites!!!

CLICK HERE for more details on how to get your's designed!

Video of Eliza

2008-10-07T11:05:00.005-05:00

Video of her at the apple orchard while we are apple picking.... check out the look she gives grandma before she dives into the apple... and the second HUGE bite :) LOL I also LOVE how she nods her head yes :)

Durning bath the other night, we realized she could say her name! The first time she says it is pretty clear! I love hearing her say her name! :)

I have a LOT to share!

2008-10-07T08:00:00.008-05:00

It has been one BUSY weekend here! ML's sister, brother in law and little 2 year old son came to visit last thursday and stayed until sunday morning (we took them to the airport at 4am!). ML had to work thursday and friday, but the girls and I showed them around town :) Here are some special things we did while they were here:

THURSDAY: After dinner, we all headed out to falls park! This place is so peaceful! Unfortunately it got dark very quickly and the bugs came out quickly as well, so we only stayed for a short time.

FRIDAY: While ML was at work, we all went to the butterfly house! I was bummed because I forgot my camera! (yeah.... HOW did that happen?!) But Fay Sien brought hers - YAY! and I have yet to get the photos from her! BUT we (my mom, ML, the girls and I) went last saturday for the first time... so I have some photos from then to share sometime. We met up with ML for lunch (which was delish!) and then we came home and the girls layed down for nap. After picking up ML we all went out to the grocery store for some fruit and milk (since we had run out!) That night was a great night at home having dinner and chatting after the kids went to bed.

SATURDAY: They picked a GREAT weekend to come because the country apple orchard was having their annual Harvest festival!!! So after Audrey's gymnastics, we headed to pick apples, see pumpkins, ride the pony and the train and play on all the inflatables! We packed a picnic lunch too - which was nice!

Audrey and Daddy hand in hand picking apples :)

Eliza is an apple fanatic. I have a video to show that I will have to put up later (edit to add: here's the video!) - she wanted to eat the apple SO badly and would look at you like "I'm going to eat this but don't want you to see...." and then she'd attack the apple with her mouth/teeth and take a HUGE bite... LOL It was soooo hilarious!

I love how Audrey is eating one apple and looking at the other... like one isn't enough???

Here's our little "mommy" Audrey... sharing with her sister.... she gave Eliza several bites.

OH and this is my favorite.... we got on the hay ride that the horses were pulling to be picked up from the pumpkin patch. When we got on, Audrey said: "Mommy... that horsey has a big tail!......" Me: "Oh... yeah... it does doesn't it!" Audrey: "Yeah........... AND a BIG BUTT!" ROFL! I couldn't help but laugh. She's definitely in that I'm going to say exactly what I'm thinking stage :) OH then she proceeded to say "That's where the potty comes out...."

Here we are on the hayride.... Both the girls loved this.

Before lunch, Johan and Audrey went on the little "train" ride they had there. I think Johan went on this ride another few times :)

After lunch, my mom bought Audrey a wrist band to be able to go on all the inflatables... she went on ALL of them, including this insane obsticle course! She was the smallest one that I saw go on this! She is SO determined and independent and this shows it!

Yeah... see where that huge hill part is with the slide near the end? The other side of that huge hill part is that wall she was climbing in the photo above this one.... CRAZY girl! :) She's SO strong!

She went on this huge slide like... Five times? Maybe more... I lost count! LOL

Right before we left, we told her she could go on one more ride and she said she wanted to go on a pony ride... so we let her! This is her second pony ride ever - the circus was her first pony ride and this is her second. She loved it!!

We spent all day there, so the girls were SO ready for a nap when we left! Then for dinner, ML's sister, bil and their son took us out to eat. What a GREAT weekend we had with them!!! Audrey really loved playing with Johan and treated him so nicely. She treated him just as she treats Eliza, which most of the time is hugs and kisses... she's a little mommy. Johan even asked where Audrey was when we were taking them to the airport (because she was at home with grandma still sleeping as it was 4am!)... I thought that was cute!

Taking it a little easier this week and only have a few things planned. Last night I went out to a local coffee shop and read for an hour while sipping on a pumpkin spice latte - yum! Then I met with another mom from my MOPS group and we chatted for a little while. It's so nice to get out once in a while by myself and not worry about the girls or the house, etc. I'm so thankful that ML would let me do that! What a great DH :)

Busy as always

2008-10-01T12:06:00.003-05:00

We are still busy as always here.... seems as though I need a larger planner to keep up with all that we are doing! It's incredible all the stuff that goes on here vs. the town we use to live in...

We are SOOO excited because tomorrow we go pick up ML's Sister, B-I-L, and their son, who will all be staying with us over the weekend. we have LOTS of things we'll be doing and I look forward to each event!!

Also, I've been busy planning a freezer cooking club and a book club - these have been SO much fun to organize! and I'm really looking forward to the cooking days and getting started on the first book with the book club! :)

I may complain about being busy - and sometimes it is a bit overwhelming, but I think deep down - I LOVE IT. ha ha....

So that's an update on us!

Lost another....

2008-09-26T15:48:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it. On the way to a playdate today I was told over the phone that someone close to us (my aunt's boyfriend, whom she's lived with for several years - he was like a husband to her) passed away this morning. My heart breaks for her :( (this is the same side of the family who just lost my uncle Billy.... so not only has she lost a brother this month, but also her lover) Say a prayer for her if you get a chance.... Love you Roxane.

Productive 2 hours!

2008-09-25T16:09:00.002-05:00

WOW - I'm always amazed at how much I can get done when I really put my mind to it! I started at 2pm making dinner for tonight - goulash... YUM! I love my mom's recipe for that and so does ML and the girls - so that's always a winner... and it's just a make and throw in the crockpot to keep warm and heat veggies meal :)

Anyways - I always buy my meats in bulk so in the long run it comes out being a bit cheaper :) Especially the clearanced out 5lbs of meat for $11.00!! So the other day when I went to the store, I bought some chicken in bulk (5lbs) and hamburger in bulk (only 2lbs cause they didn't have any larger)... so today, this is what I made with those and few ingredients from what I had around the house!

First I browned all my hamburger and used 1lb for our dinner for tonight - the goulash I talked about earlier :)

* 1lb browned hamburger - put into a freezer bag for later (think spaghetti sauce, tator tot hotdish, tacos, sloppy joes, etc....)

* Honey Glazed "dump" Chicken (2 bags of this)
* Chili Maple Glazed "dump" Chicken (2 bags of this)
* Italian Dressing Chicken (1 bag of this)

SO, there you have it... my productive 2 hours of food = 6 no fuss meals for another night + dinner for tonight :) YAY!

OH and did I mention Audrey napped for 3 and 1/2 hours today??? Yep! Although Eliza still only napped for 1 hour ha ha.... guess that's better than nothing!

Accessory Girls

2008-09-22T22:41:00.004-05:00

Here are my two little accessory girls! All they wanted to do after naptime today was play with their hats, belts, scarf, purse, etc. :) I - as always - had to grab the camera.... got a few good shots :)

Audrey loves belts right now... here she's trying to get one on. In fact, at the last craft day the MOMS club held, she took a ribbon and was trying to make it a belt on her! :)

Audrey went in and grabbed this scarf and put it around herself ... AFTER she got her belt on :) ha ha.
Here, she was showing me how to put the scarf on... and after I snapped this photo, she put it on me and proceeded to tell me how to put it on myself......

Eliza with the purse and scarf.... running around. To the girls' room and back and all over with her purse and her scarf... she was loving all these fun accessories!

Gymnastics!

2008-09-18T09:25:00.003-05:00

Yes, so I am FINALLY getting around to talking about GYMNASTICS! Audrey started gymnastics about three weeks ago and boy does she LOVE gymnastics! It's so close to our house, it only takes about 5 mins to get there (If even). And we have to go past it to get to daddy's work, so she always says "Look! There's my gymnastics!" AND the best thing is that GRANDMA gets to take Audrey to gymnastics!!! Audrey loves that :)

She is doing absolutely fabulously too - I don't mean to brag, but watching all the other little kids, she does extremely well.... she listens to the teacher and follows directions wonderfully. She was able to learn "pike" and "straddle" the first week. They have little bars and beams for the kids and she was able to pull her feet up to the bar on her own! WOW! We knew she had amazing strength, but that is incredible to me! She can even keep her legs flat on the ground while doing the pike and straddle and touching her nose to the ground.... and we thought that was just because she was little, but last time we went, not all the little ones could do that!
Two weeks ago, she learned how to do a "scale" on the beam.... where you hold your arms out straight and lift one leg up straight behind you.... she has been doing "scales" since. and while I was cleaning, having one leg standing on the chair and one leg up while reaching to clean a window, she yelled "Look mommy!!! You're doing a scale!" SO CUTE.

The lighting in the gym is AWFUL, so the pictures are pretty bad, but you get the "picture" :) hee hee.....

Digging Deep

2008-09-15T21:20:00.003-05:00

Last night was a GREAT night.... The TV was kept off and I dug deep into the Word of God... it's been a while since I've spent that amount of time or even that amount of study into the word. I always read at least 1 verse and contemplate it each day, but to sit down for 2 hours and study and dig deep praying for God to reveal things to me was simply amazing and refreshing....

First Sucker & Apple Picking

2008-09-11T15:53:00.006-05:00

What a FUN day we've had here!!! It started off taking daddy to work so we could have the van for the day (since we only have 1 vehicle). Then we went to make a deposit at the bank, where we got suckers! Both girls got one, and on our way home, BOTH girls managed to take the wrappers off and go at the suckers :) hee hee... So yes, this would be Eliza's FIRST sucker. I must have been in a good mood because stickiness is something I DO NOT like to deal with, but this morning I didn't care - the girls were happy, all is good.

Eliza enjoying her sucker!

Realizing that her hands are sticky.... LOL

THEN, after a little morning play, we headed to the Apple Orchard just south of town to meet up with the local MOMS Club... we had SOOO much fun there! One of Audrey's great friends "G" and her mom came to check out the group of MOMS - Audrey was THRILLED to see G there! They are SO cute together :)

First, the kids got to play on these huge hay stacks! They had fun... and got dirty :) ha ha!!!

They all ran around and climbed up and slid down the hay - so much fun and a great idea if you want your child to nap well! ha ha.

Next we got to go on a tractor trailer ride! That was a lot of fun and Audrey loved sitting next to G! This face is Priceless!!! She saw the apple trees and got SOOO excited!

The tractor took us out to the Apple Trees where each child got to pick 8 apples - Here is Audrey and G with their bags of apples! SOOO cute!!!! It was hard for Audrey to pick them herself unless they were low enough and it was hard for me to see if it was "good enough" for us to pick since I was holding Eliza... so she got to pick just a few and then help me place them in our bag....

Once Eliza decided that it was OK if I wasn't holding her, she thought the apples were pretty neat and picked a few up off the ground. She loves apples!

Thought this was an interesting shot of Audrey... can you see her thinking something... I always wonder what little ones are thinking :) And look how she's holding the apple, like it's so fragile :) SO CUTE!

RIGHT after I snapped this one of Eliza, she bit into the apple!!! ROFL!!!

And I had to laugh on our tractor ride back from the Apple Trees, Audrey was holding her bag with both hands so tightly...

Then we had "storytime" where they learned what kinds of foods are made from apples... they were able to taste apple juice - which was absolutely delish!

And then they saw the lady cut the apple in a peeler/corer/slicer machine and then everyone was able to taste a slice of apple...

Eliza LOVED the apples :) AND the apple juice.... and when we got home, we cut up one of the apples that we had picked... YUM!!! I had SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Seriously --- I want to go again!!! :) I think the girls had just as much fun as I did too :) I love having the opportunity to be home with them and take them different places... what a BLESSING!

White Chocolate Mocha

2008-09-10T09:31:00.003-05:00

I'm SOOOOO stinkin excited I almost can't contain it!! I was looking the other day to try and find a way to MAKE my own White Chocolate Mocha so that all of our extra money doesn't go towards my Starbucks addiction ;P

Anyhow, I found an AWESOME recipe using some very common household ingredients and only 2 that I typically don't have on hand.... and.... I LOVE it!!! SOOO easy to make and it makes enough It's not Starbucks perfect, but it's pretty dang close! And I'm thinking when my new espresso / coffee maker arrives and I actually STEAM my milk instead of heating it in the microwave, that will make a world of differance AND being able to use espresso shots instead of drip coffee will make quite a difference too - I can't imagine how yummy this will taste then if I already think it tastes pretty darn good!!! :)

This is going to save us Lots of $$$ :) Especially because the White Chocolate Sauce that I can make is costing a lot less than the $25 it costs for amazing White Chocolate Sauce in a bottle that you can buy!

Growing Up

2008-09-08T15:19:00.003-05:00

Have I mentioned that I LOVE our deck and the beautiful sunsets we see here? I went out the other day to snap these photos... this is what most nights look like here....

This is to the south..... just some gorgeous colored clouds! Then I looked to the West...

And saw this gorgeous sky!!!! Absolutely beautiful! I love that.... Aren't God's creations just stunning?

On to a bit about this last week......
Seems like "Growing Up" has become a part of this family the last few weeks. I won't lie and say that things have been fabulous since we have moved... there have been some really hard days for me. Yes, I love my house... but that's about it. I have been making friends in some mom's group and that has been great, but I miss my close mommy friends!!! (Jodi ~ Shannon!!!!) Anyhow, I feel like this is just a part of me growing up, so to speak.... and I'm so grateful to those who are there for me and who have given me encouraging words... emails and calls - it really shows you who your true friends are.

As for the girls - Growing up for SURE!!! Today is the first day that Audrey has waken from her nap and went right into the bathroom - completely on her own - to go poopy and potty!!! I was in the basement and heard some noise coming from up there and there she was, in the bathroom... I turned on the light and she said "I had to go poopy and potty" ... I'm SOOO proud of her! And one step closer to being 100% potty trained! She's great during the days, but we still wear a pull up to nap and a diaper to bed. Audrey has been so well behaved lately! She's listening incredibly well and is amazing at playing on her own! I'm amazed! She'll go in the playroom and play on her and be quiet if Eliza is sleeping out here on the couch (like right now) :) She'll read books on her own for half hour at a time... and play with her barbies and dolls. She is fabulous with Eliza too... what a little mommy she is turning out to be! These photos show their playfullness and love quite well.....
Eliza is growing up as well... wanting to only eat from a fork or on her own. Forget trying to feed her food anymore! LOL. I took some photos this weekend - and when I went through them... I thought "look at how grown up she is!!!" She is not just walking... but running these days. And getting into EVERYTHING :) She is completely high maintenance and incredibly picky and opinionated... but that's who she is!
This weekend, my brother and his wife and their baby Essy came to visit... Audrey and Eliza were SO excited to see Essy! (Audrey loves Essy and even has a baby doll named after her)... Here are a few photos from this Saturday when they visited....

Also, just a few miscellaneous things.

Audrey started gymnastics 2 saturdays ago - she is SOOO great at it!!! I have photos to post when I get some free time :)

I'm really excited because we have a church that we really enjoy going to! So it's great to finally have a church here!

Friday we are having a memorial service for my Uncle Billy. This is so hard on my family, and I'm surprised how it's effect has taken place on myself as well. I didn't know my Uncle very well, but I did miss him and seeing my family upset is really hard....

Uncle Billy

2008-09-03T22:18:00.002-05:00

Sunday when we went for lunch, we got word that my uncle Billy had a massive heart attack. As of then, he was in critical condition and in acoma.

Just now, I got word that Uncle Billy passed away just a short bit ago. :( Billy lived in the philipines where he managed his own rice fields, had a family - a wife who he met there, a 5 year old son who they adopted and a 2-1/2 year old daughter, who they very recently adopted.

This is the first sibling on my mom's side to pass away. It's very sereal being that we hadn't seen him recently... This is a very difficult thing right now for my grandmother, especially. Praying right now for peace and comfort for my family.......... don't know what to think or how to feel right now. Just kinda numb from it all, I guess.

Love you Uncle Billy.

Free September Desktop Calendar

2008-09-02T08:33:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone! Thought I would mention the Free Desktop Calendars I have up at MADE DIGITAL for September!!! I'm really excited about these - let me know what you think!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE DESKTOP CALENDAR!

What a wonderful morning!

2008-08-31T15:24:00.006-05:00

We had the opportunity this morning to attend the Life Light church service... I'm not sure how many people showed up this morning, but it was a lot!!! The weather was absolutely perfect and in my opinion, there's nothing better than seeing thousands of people under the sky, outdoors, worshiping Jesus with their words, hands and heart!

I absolutely LOVE taking my camera and taking photos of my beautiful little ones - so here are a few photos to share :)
Daddy and his baby girl - she fell asleep on the way to Life Light and didn't wake up until half way through the loud worship - hence the bright yellow ear plugs ;)

Lincoln Brewster leading worship! Awesome, awesome worship time...

Audrey hung on Grandma Jenni's shoulder most of the worship time at the beginning... Sooo sweet.

Audrey wasn't sure what to think of the loud music at first....

But then she really started to get into it and have fun.... her and daddy... my cuties ;)

We have really enjoyed having uncle Kevin here for the holiday weekend!!! Here he is with Eliza :)

How awesome it is to look back and she your daughter raising her hands to worship Jesus.... which reminds me of what she said the other day on the way home... (slight sidetrack story here! LOL) We had watched some water baptisms at the lake last wednesday - ML explained to her what was going on.... So on the way home thursday night she says to my mom and I "I am going to be baptized...." (I thought she was saying something about hotdogs LOL....) so my mom said "when?" and then Audrey said "well.... because I love Jesus!" SO cute....

I rarely ever post photos of myself, but I did ask ML to take a photo of Audrey and I and I suppose this one turned out OK... :)

It was really a very nice morning - the girls behaved and we had the opportunity to worship Jesus with thousands of other people in some absolutely gorgeous weather... can't get much better than that!

The cute things they say....

2008-08-27T11:07:00.003-05:00

Last night ML told me before bed that I had to read his blog, because it was really cute - It's true... it's adorable! go check out what he wrote.....

Today is going by so slowly - the girls are eating their snack while I check my email... Some of you may have noticed I'm not on my computer as much lately. I'm trying to spend more time with the girls during the day and then do my computer stuff late at night. Even still, I haven't had much to do lately, so I have just been relaxing in front of the TV and going to bed early. It's a nice change. I've been praying a lot lately for God to show me direction in some areas... in a lot of areas actually. It's always hard sitting and waiting for direction, but I know that He will bring revelation to me soon. He may not answer me how I want him to, but at least I know He will answer me.

I feel like this week is on stand still until friday when my brother comes to visit and when we participate in the awesome Life Light events going on here. It will be a great weekend filled with friends, which I look forward to so much! Come on Friday... come as quick as you can! :)

Great last few days....

2008-08-22T14:08:00.002-05:00

What an exciting last couple of days we've had here!!! First of all, I still LOVE my house! :D We are so close to being completely unpacked which makes me so excited and very proud of myself for getting it all done so quickly.

The last two days the weather has been terrific! We live kinda up on a hill, so even if it's warm out, it's a little breezy almost all the time. Makes it really nice!

Our friend Adrien (who I use to watch in our old town) came to play with us for a bit yesterday and the day before. It was SO much fun to see how she's grown up! She is right between Audrey and Eliza age-wise, so they all got along really well! We played in our playroom and outside and had LOTS of fun together!

Today we were able to go to the playgroup for the mom's club that we are in - it was SOOO much fun! We went to the park and Audrey loved it - Eliza liked the swings and walking around a bit and they both loved the fruit that they had there for the snacks! I also brough our lunch along - so that was a lot of fun! The ladies and children in that group are FABULOUS and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them all better!

I'm really excited because I am also signing up for MOPS.... just had to add that cause it's exciting :) hee hee.

Anyways - Audrey was SO cute today I just HAD to snap a few photos!

She loves these benches on our front porch :)

I love how she put her arms up like she was just chillin'. SO cute!

Like I mentioned, the weather has been fabulous, so we've been eating lunch out on the deck! It's SO much fun!

Now all I hear from Audrey is that she wants to eat out there :) LOL.

Hoping to get LOTS done this weekend! We'll see! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Picture Day!

2008-08-19T09:51:00.003-05:00

I have a few photos to share from the past few days - so here goes!

My beautiful bathroom! I love it :) I love my shower curtain and my floor! This is what you see from the hallway.

close up of the curtain and hooks... I love how it's this chocolate brown metallic .. doesn't show up that well in the photo....

Here's the pocket door entrance from our master bedroom... love having the bathroom just steps away from the bed... that'll come in handy next time I'm pregnant! hee hee....

This is my little shoe-a-holic! Yes, she is LOVING shoes.... which we found out just months ago. She now tries to put on my shoes quite often. If you come visit, you'll see her in this stance (trying to get a shoe on) about 90% of the time :) hee hee...

the other 10% of the time you'll see her carrying a shoe! ha ha. Don't know if you can see her face that well here, but she fell into the door in their room, her bruise is healing well...

My precious Audrey - love that face! And her baby doll who she named "essy"... hmmm wonder where she got that name?! ha ha... (uncle jeremy & aunt michele... any guesses?!)

And this is the newest photo today..... This morning while I was washing my hands in the bathroom, Ms Eliza was so Graceful as to fall into the bathroom door... just as her other bruise was healing... great! So yeah... this is her new battle wound. Seems never ending with her - even though her middle name is Grace??? Poor girl :( I felt awful!

that's all for now!

Sick Day

2008-08-18T18:39:00.002-05:00

Today has been a sick day for me... Yesterday i was SOOO excited cause I thought I could get LOTS done while my mom was here to care for the girls, but I started not feeling well :( So I just went to bed as soon as we got home from checking out another church. Slept until lunchtime and then just chilled on the couch this afternoon until dinner. I think back to bed once I get the girls to bed. Thankfully ML has been able to stay home today and take care of the girls! I don't know what I would have done without that!!! Hopefully by tomorrow morning I'll be back to 100%. I have photos to share of the house, we got some decorations up yesterday, so maybe I can share those tomorrow!!!

Playroom = Done! ..... almost :)

2008-08-13T22:42:00.003-05:00

YAY!!! So here's the photos of the playroom!!! The only thing not done is to hang some decor, otherwise ALL is done! And best thing is the girls love it and love being in there! Audrey spent at least an hour - if not longer - down there on her OWN today!!! I got out barbies from when I was a little girl, that I saved for my daughters, and that 'some day' has come and boy did she spend tons of time playing with them! The first thing after her nap was "mama... can I go down and play with barbies?!" SO cute. Also, we signed her up for gymnastics today!!! She'll be starting in 2 weeks for the fall semester! We were watching the olympics the other day and she saw the gymnastics part and thought it was really neat, she's always doing summer saults and she walked along the wall of the play area at the mall the other day using her 'balance'. She's SO ready for something like this! ANYWAYS! ON to the photos!!! hee hee.

First, I LOVE this room!!! Two chairs... well really a chair and a half and a glider/ottoman. :) The window is SO big and lets in SO much light in the morning without the sun shining in cause it's facing west... so it's REALLY nice!
PLENTY of books to read!!! And the vanity and kitchen the girls often play with.

AND the closet... yes THE closet! This baby is 3 feet deep!!! I LOVE it! What could possibly be behind those curtains in the closet???.......

ALL their toys on these awesome shelves!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I'm soooo excited to have something SO organized! And you can't see the bottom of the shelves, but the first shelf is up high enough that I have little rolling bins on the ground under the first shelf - which adds to the total storage area! Audrey loves her playroom too - she's very proud of it! So that makes me happy :)

Well that's our playroom - the room where we spend the majority of our time these days :)

Tomorrow perhaps I'll get to taking photos of the living/kitchen/dining area! :D

New Look

2008-08-12T09:55:00.002-05:00

Yeah... WELL, ML wanted me to do a header for him and his looked SO good that I wanted to change my own! LOL

Check out his blog :)

We've been blogging for quite a while, but it use to be on THIS site... since then, he's redone it a few times, so you can't see ALL of our past posts :) But if you want to keep up to date on both of us at once, it's a nice place to visit :)

That's all for now!

Lots Done, Little bit to go...

2008-08-10T15:01:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't get photos taken of the playroom, BUT I did get the entire basement living room and storage room cleaned and unpacked!!! How's THAT for working my butt off! ha ha :) Well and my mom has been awesome and helping us out a lot!

ML and my dad got our large mirror hung in the living room and it looks great! Also, they hung our NEW flatscreen TV! I think it's like 50" ? It's big! LOL well bigger than we've ever had before. This is our only TV in the house and we've never had cable before, but now we have just the basic cable - how fun is that?! :D

I LOVE my new house and love all the things that God has blessed me with! Thank you Jesus! :)

Girls Room!

2008-08-08T12:49:00.004-05:00

Thought I'd start showing some photos of the new place!!! Audrey is SO cute - she refers to it as the new house and is sure to tell everyone that we have a new house :)

I have a few rooms pretty much all unpacked: Kitchen, Living Room, Master Bedroom & the Girls' Bedroom and the Playroom. As well as both bathrooms, the laundry/pantry and my mom is all moved into her room for days when she stays here :) All the curtains are hung, which was done the first couple days we were here because I felt those were important to get up!!! :) Minh Lee got all his computer stuff put together last night and I must say it looks Great!

Things left to do still include: hanging decorations/frames and large mirror, finish unpacking storage room and clean out garage.

Ready for some photos?! Thought I'd share the Girls room with you today! (note that none of the decorations are in their room yet.) This room is perfect for them - pink and purple! Audrey actually picked out her sheets and loves telling everyone that her new sheets are pink & purple...
LOVE these curtains that I got at Target and how they look with the vaulted ceiling! Eliza still sleeps in her crib next to Audrey and it's working out terrific! (sorry about the shadow in the photo!)

This is one of my FAVES .... An organized Closet!!!!!!!! YES! Check it out - I LOVE it! Shirts, Skirts & Dresses on top and outfits on the bottom... In the old house, I had All of Eliza's clothes on top and all of Audrey's on the bottom and then I had their pants in separate drawers of the changing table, but here we put all of Eliza's on the left and all of Audrey's on the right and then they each have an area for pants so ALL their clothes (except Audrey's big girl underwear and their pajamas - which are in the changing table now) are in the closet! SOOOOO NICE! Also thought I would give photo updates of the girls :) Eliza is teething - pretty fussy here... but she has her moments where she is all giggles and smiles too. She is so much fun!
And here's my goofy, beautiful Audrey! She HAS to have her sunglasses all the time here. And she will complain if she doesn't have them and we are going outside! LOL... I LOVE this photo I got of her :)
OH and she is pretty much drawing all the time now! She loves to draw, and I love when she uses the magna doodle because then i know she's not drawing all over the furniture :P Here is something she drew the other day :) My little artist!
Hopefully tomorrow I can get some time to show photos of the Playroom!!!! It turned out AMAZING!!!!!!