My how you have grown

 

I know my daughter has grown. 

Nothing is more evident than all the pants that are too short. 

But as I went into the basement to get the girls for supper I happened upon this. 

A fun game of Dr.  They were playing with Lil Miss's new Dr. kit and taking turns getting broken arms.

When asked what she wants to be when she grows up she does say a doctor so I am very proud. 

She at one time wanted to be a firetruck.  Not a fireman a FireTRUCK.  Now we encourage our children to be anything they want to be.  But we did have to burst her bubble in trying to be a 3 ton vehicle that has wheels.  Bubble Buster. :-(

She looked so cute today in her Dr. jacket that I just had to snap a pic. 

{today}

It's her Dr. jacket from 3 1/2 years ago. 

The sleeves are now 3/4 length and the buttons barely button. 

One of the first gifts she was given from one of Nate's cousin. (thanks Dan and Linda!)

It has gotten some great use.

 {August 2009}

Can't believe how grown up that girl looks. 

And how much her hair has grown!!!! 

Ignite the Spark

So my goal today was to complete my first "assignment" for the One Little Word Class.

I felt very studious.

While Lil Miss was down for her nap I started.

The assignment (after you pick your word for the year) is to come up with Intentions & Actions to go with every month. 

The intentions were alot harder to come up with than the actions. 

I am not sure where this project is going to lead me through the year so some months are very open in their intentions while others are very specific, such as June is Spark Creativity; 30 days of being creative. 

So far I am really enjoying this. 

Pushing myself in my thinking process and out of my comfort zone. 

 

 I am looking forward to where this reflection over the year leads me. 

Also had a fun time creating my assignment.  I haven't picked up cats eye chalk or my paper trimmer in a while.  It was nice to dust off my scrapbooking supplies. 

It was nice that te instructor gave us pretty specific prompts on how to put our intentions and actions together.  I didn't really push the envelope on that, but I did have fun playing around with the look of mine. 

 

January is Ignite the Spark.

I used the bible verse Timothy 4:12 to lead me in my directions of this month.

Don't let anyone think

less of you because you are

young.  Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you

live, in your love, your faith, an your purity. 

 

For me, I relate to this verse because I feel like I am not

taken seriously. Not because I am young, but because I am

a stay at home mom.  Just because I am not in a work

environment doesn't mean I can't make a huge impact

in the world.  It starts though with my actions, my words, and

the behavior I set forth. 

My intention for this month Ignite the Spark inside of me... and ever month there after.

 

Happy three week Birthday Josie and Ella!!



My Saturday was spent loving on some babies this weekend. 

I had the pleasure of visiting our friends at the hospital and seeing their 3 week old babies! 

They are precious and the pictures don't even do justice how beautiful they are. 

They were born at 32 weeks and mommy had to be on bedrest at the hospital for 8 weeks prior to that!  What a Supermom!

This is baby Ella. 

She is a peanut.  She weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. at birth.  

And this is baby Josie.  Named after her father. 

She had just graduated to a big girl bed when I got there. 

They sleep alot of the time but I did get a chance while I was there to see them awake and staring around.  Everything is so tiny. Their fingers, and toes, and little noses. 

Josie is going to be a piano player because she has long fingers and moves them so gracefully.

This is my SUPER happy moment. 

I got to hold both of them at the same time. 

I don't know how mommy and daddy are going to do it but they are going to have their hands full.

Ella with her eyes open and Josie sleeping. 

It was a great way to spend a Saturday doting on these two girls. 

I also enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour drive to Des Moines.  Really.

I grabbed my Starbucks and headed out with the music blaring.

I listened to a random group of artists belting out "Proud Mary", a little Michael Jackson, some Boys 2 Men, and to end the night a whole lot of worship music. 

Dancing in my seat in the car, I was probably a sight to see but I didn't care.  My kids would have had a great time dancing and singing and daddy would have been embarrassed.

It was a good day.

The best was the hugs when I walked in the door. 

You would have thought I had been gone a week, not just 12 hours. 

Best things about being a mom.

 

 

 

Mixed Feelings -- winter break is over

Bittersweet.  The kids go back to school today. 

Yeah, we can get back to routines, early bedtimes, and mommy time.

Boo, the amount of time I get to hang out with the kids and goof off gets sliced to nothing. 

This morning we were playing with balloons and playing balloon tag. 

Its amazing how fun cheap balloons can be.

Rosie spent winter break learning how to sew on her new sewing machine. 

When we got home to Iowa we started and completed her first project -- new pillows for the dogs to sleep on.  She did the cutting, the pinning, most of the sewing and all of the stuffing. 

She even tried her hand at hand stitching the pillows shut.   

 

 {her new mini sewing machine} 

 Her sewing machine has a few flaws.  It doesn't finish a stitch so you can pull the thread and the stitches come out.  So we used mommy's machine to make the pillows.  Good bonding time. 

I can't wait to go through my pattern books to find good projects for the both of us. 

I see lots of cute items being made in our future.

{Dodger's new dog pillow -- it isn't very boyish, but we used fabric I had in the closet}

 We also did some painting.  The big kids glued, painted and spruced up with stickers their own rescue vehicles. 

This was a good stepping stone to the pinewood derby car Bubba and Daddy are making in the garage.  The ones mommy helped them make won't when any races. 

 During winter break we spent family time watching a few movies too! 

The kids love when we have picnics downstairs and enjoy a movie. 

Oh, and don't forget playing in the snow. 

They convinced me yesterday to go outside and play.  It was cold.  Like, 10* cold.

We were out for like 15/20 minutes and then in warming up our fingers and toes. 

In that time mommy got all the Christmas lights outside down and can cross that off my to do list. 

The snow was super light and fluffy.  Not good snowball making snow. 

But Bubba decided that it was great for throwing large shovel fulls at his sister and momma.

Lil Miss thought it was great for eating though.  

Immediately upon coming inside, the kids were begging for hot chocolate. 

I think it is seriously the only reason Gigi was outside.

I made the best cups of hot cocoa ever!  They were all impressed.

 

So today I have to kiss the kids goodbye and come home to a quiet house with just Lil Miss and me. 

Luckily they only have two days of school and its the weekend.  Noisiness will then resume. 

Like I said... I have mixed feelings.  LOL

 



In One Word

A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark.

Dante Alighieri

So it's the new year.  Time for new beginnings and starting resolutions that are always impossible to keep.  One starts out the year with such energy and vigor.  I am guilty of that.  I enter into January 1st with beautiful intentions and hopes for the year.  I look back to last year and see what I have accomplished; a 1/2 marathon, self teaching myself how to sew, and building a closer relationship with God which has led to a much happier mommy/wife/friend.  So my expectations for this year are even higher. 

Today I signed up for a class.  Oh my god, I can't believe those words came out of my mouth.  Just an Internet class from Big Picture Classes, but still it is something out of the blue for me.  .  A scrapbooking/journaling/view of life class.  I stumbled across the #onelittleword project through instagram.  Ali Edwards the creator and author of the class is one of my scrapbooking idols from way back.  I loved her style that she gave to her pages and would buy many creative keepsakes magazines just to see her latest work.  Not to mention her handwriting is to die for.  So a few weeks ago I saw this post about #onelittleword and thought that it is something interesting.  It is taking a year to reflect on one word.  I could write a whole bunch of resolutions and try to keep them, but I would probably (from experience) fail.  Because I do not the have toned arms I vowed to have or wear a size 8, or have all my scrapbooks up to date and pictures organized.  But I love the premise of focusing on one word for an entire year and "it" having a huge meaning in your life.  I also liked the idea of getting slowly back into the scrapbooking I so love but have put on the back burner. 

This idea of one little word has swam around in my head the last few weeks and I started to think about what would be MY word.  I started jotting some words down.  Balance.  Nurture.  Journey.  Grow.  Give.  But I still didn't feel one of them jumping out as the word.  Until I was cleaning the house this past weekend daydreaming and it came to me.  SPARK.  The word may not mean anything to you, but the course of events in the last couple months and how I have been feeling that I need to do something.  (way to many ideas have been percolating in my brain that I need to narrow down the somethings but something BIG I think for me needs to be started) So the word spark means so many things to me.  A spark of possiblities, whether I start a crafting buisness on etsy or jump with both feet in and start an organization... something is working within me.  Igniting this Spark.  Rekindling the Spark.  Spark will be defined this year.  So you may hear as I complete my assignments throughout the course of the year about this "one little word" you now understand what I am talking about.  My mantra for 2013 -- SPARK. 

spark 

 

Noun A small fiery particle thrown off from a fire, alight in ashes, or produced by striking together two hard surfaces such as stone or metal. A lively young fellow.

Verb Emit sparks of fire or electricity. Engage in courtship.

Synonyms noun. scintilla - sparkle - flash verb. sparkle - scintillate - glitter

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the yar

ralph waldo emerson

 

 

If you had to reflect on one word for 2013 what would it be?

Welcome 2013

We rang in the New Year at home. 

It is so much easier than trying to find a babysitter and traveling somewhere. 

We decided to have a party so we had the joys of being social but from the comfort of our own home.  I have to say it was perfect. 

We had time to play in the morning and then get ready for the party in the afternoon.

The Lego building at our house has kinda gotten out of control.

Translation:  mommy couldn't stop until the Legos were all put together. 

I forgot how much fun it was to play with Legos!  Seriously! 

Nate made pancakes on Monday morning and had to shout up to me 3 times before I finally left what I was creating in Bubba's room and came to the table. 

No worries I finished the Star Wars world after breakfast. 

I did let Bubba help too.  LOL 

 

In between the putting together of legos we cleaned the house and made some food for the NYE party.  Gigi begged to help me cook so she could use her new cooking utensils from Aunt Brooke. 

They are adorable! 

She helped me make the red velvet cupcakes and chocolate cookie dough truffles.



We put some red velvet cake mix in her mini bundt cake pan and she had her own individual cake. 

She sat in front of the oven waiting for the timer to go off to see how it turned out. 

Can't wait to cook some more with her. 

She also has her own mini wok, a steamer, and saute pan. 

Lots of ideas in the works for dinner.

After all the desserts were made and many appetizers prepared, we got ready to PARTY! 

I bought party hats, balloons, and glow sticks to entertain the kids. 

Lil Miss loved her Happy New Year headband. 

There were lots of little kiddos over for the party.  {it's amazing how a difference a few years makes, now many of our friends have at least one or two kids.  A different kind of party than before kids}

Rosie played the role of little mother hen. 

She had alot of fun dotting on the little girls. 

She would fill up their sippy cups, take them to their mommys and even play tea party. 

Olivia and Lil Miss got along pretty good this time. 

I even saw Lil Miss share her toys without tears or shouting. 

Progress! 

We knew it was getting late when the girls requested a movie and all cuddled on the couch with their plugs... aka fingers. 

  {Mr. Finn and Kara}

The basement was well used last night. 

At one point we had at least 15 people around the bar watching the tiniest TV in the house. 

The bar area is rarely used for its original purpose so it was nice to see people gathered around. 

Usually it is our craft area and is covered in sticky glue spots or glitter or both.

The kids stayed up WAY too late. 

They made it to the New York ball drop at 11pm and then it was time for bed.  

Us, Midwesterners get to celebrate NYE twice.  Once at 11pm when the ball is dropped on television and then it is replayed again at our official midnight and we get to drink our champagne again. 

Nate wasn't prepared for the first ball drop, but he was on the ball on the second and we had glasses in our hands more than 30 seconds before! 

I was so excited to pop the champagne and drink a glass.
But I forget every time how much I don't like it.  I like the thought of the bubbly drink, but once I take a sip I remember it isn't that good.  Maybe that's why I only drink it once a year.

 After the champagne flutes were put away, Nate pulled out the Rockband equipment. 
It had to be dusted off, but we found all the pieces. 
It was like deja' vu of the olden days -- before kids. 
Oh, yes we had many a nights where our friends and us would sit around rockin to Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas or a little Nirvana.
I don't like to brag but I rocked the drums like always. 

At some point after 1am I made it up to my bed and fell asleep. 

I was so impressed with myself that I made past midnight. 

In the last 3 years, I cannot say I made it to midnight very many times, if any. 

{Smooches at Midnight}

 I was smart to have all the breakfast preparations prepared ahead of time so in the morning all I had to do was pop the casserole and scones in the oven and I was done. 

The scones were a backup plan if Nate didn't "feel" up to making pancakes and to my surprise without much prodding he was out of bed and mixing pancake mix before the casserole was out of the oven.  He got really creative and made fancy pancakes.  Yoda, 2013, chocolate chip pancakes, and even a camel were made.  His pancake skills are impressive. 

 

The rest of the day was spent in our pajamas chillin. 

Great way to start the year!! 

Cheers to you All!

{we enjoyed our traditional new year's day meal of sauerkraut and sausage}

 



2012 Has been a Good Year

I can't believe that 2012 is almost over!!

It's going to take me another month at least to get used to writing 2013.

 

We filled this year with alot of things.

Here is the low down.

 

January -- playing at the park.  Can you say unseasonably warm? Yes, we played at the playground on the swings in mild weather in January. 

 

February -- We were praying for a snow day.  We didn't get one.  Grandma Aggie turned 105 and Gigi turned 5.  One hundred years apart. 

 

March -- Grandma Aggie passed away while we were home for Spring Break.  I was so glad I was already in Ohio so that I could be there for my mom.

 

April -- Lots of running.  It was go time for training for the 1/2 marathon.  I was also trying to complete Rosie's Easter Dress I made by hand.  I got it done in time. Oh, and the biggest news....literally.  We became owners of a very large Camper.   Our home away from home.

 

May --  I ran in my first ever 1/2 marathon.  For many days I was really really sore, but I must be insane because I have plans to run it again this year.  We started the adventures in camping with 4 small children.  I learned that hotdogs and pudgey pies aren't the only thing you can make camping.

 

June -- We went to DISNEY!!  The three oldest were treated to their first ever plane ride and then a trip to see Cinderella's castle.  We had lots of fun and the kids loved getting autographs of all the characters and riding their first ever roller coasters.

 

July -- Tennessee and Camping.  Over the fourth, we had a family vacation with all my brothers and sisters in Tennessee.  A week of family bonding in which we also celebrated my mother's 70th birthday.  Love her!!  Then all the other weekends we were camping.  There were very few weekends we were actually home.  The kids started tennis lessons in July and all three fell in love with the sport. 

 

August -- Lil Miss moved into a big girl bed.  Lots more camping.  And the first day of school.  We officially have three kids in school.

 

September -- Our weekends were spent at cheerleading, football and soccer.  The kids love playing sports with their friends.  We also started adventures in Boy Scouts and popcorn sales.

 

October -- Lil Miss turned 2.  Mommy and Daddy got a night away in Chicago with good food, shopping and quiet.  We took a family trip to the zoo on a school day and took a three day weekend in Columbus where we took a tour of the Horseshoe.  Mommy started as a regular writer for the Quad City Moms Blog.

 

November -- Daddy went to Africa on missions trip.  Mommy had Lasik eye surgery.  We ate lots and lots (too much really) of pumpkin pie.  Rosie turned 8 and had a slumber party with 7 girls over night and we all survived.

December --  Spending lots of family time together.  Bubba turned 7 with a swimming party at the YMCA.  Getting together with lots of friends and family and celebrating the season. 

Hoping that 2013 is as fun and exciting as 2012 was.