The Best Christmas!

So this year, all of my brothers and my sister and I were together over the Christmas weekend! It was such a nice surprise!!!! Nathan and Carolyn and Aleks came out from Troy and Tony, Jessie and Quinn drove down Sunday from Kansas City! :) It was so wonderful to have all of my siblings together! And all five of the cousins on my side of the family! It is truly something I'm thankful for. I love my brothers and my sister and any time I can have with them is precious! :) When the six of us are together it sure is loud and fantastic! :)

Hope your Christmas was wonderful and I will post pictures soon!!!!

Happy Holidays!

Way Overdue Post!

So I am shocked to see that it has been over a month since my last post!!!! Man...things have been pretty busy here and I am in fact at home at the moment with my sick little man...we have been staying healthy for the most part but whatever stomach thing is going around town poor Daniel has caught. So here I am updating our blog while sitting right next to my warm little guy who only feels better when mommy is sitting right by his feet! Silly boy!

Like I said things have been busy around here...between Boys Scouts, piano lessons, church activities, and life in general it seems like we have constantly been on the go! Our basement is put back together and just some unpacking is left to be done. The kids are all getting excited for Christmas and the chance to see all of our families over the holidays.

There still seems like there is so much to do...Christmas cards to send out, cookies to make, presents to wrap but this year we have been taking things slower...enjoying our time together. We don't have all of the decorations out yet but we are slowly plugging away at it! I am enjoying every moment of this holiday season...not going to let things stress me out! :) Friends and family are what is most important and that is our focus...our wonderful friends and family...the people who help make us who we are and who we are very blessed to have in our lives! Love you all!

Hope things are going smoothly out there to everyone who still is stopping by to see if this slacker has updated lately! Thanks for continuing to stop by here and check on how we are doing! I will update more regularly from now on!
~Nicole

Halloween!!!!

My little Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Cinderella! :)

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating! Kate LOVED being dressed up...especially with her silver princess shoes and Daniel FINALLY didn't throw a fit putting on a costume! Chris was in his element dressing up as a Star Wars character. We have TONS of candy (good for the kids...not good for me!) and the kids really enjoyed themselves...especially with the added bonus of having their Grandma and Grandad visiting over the weekend! :) What a great memory for them!!!!!

Bobcat Ceremony!

Chris earned his Bobcat badge last week! As part of the ceremony, the Den leaders painted different parts of each of the kids' faces! It was a very touching ceremony and Chris couldn't be prouder to be a Tiger Cub!!!! Way to go kiddo!!!!

Time for Updates!

So I am going to update a bunch tonight...I have lots of pictures on my camera and we've been up to quite a bit! I am hoping to have a little time tonight to do quite a bit of blogging! I have realized that I've been quite the slacker when it comes to blogging but we have been very busy with the social lives of the 5 of us in our house plus the water that invaded our house again!!!! However, we think we have discovered what caused the problem and we are going about fixing it!

So...if you are all still out there...please keep checking back! :)

~Nicole

Hooray!!!!

Kate had a doctor's appointment today with the ENT and her ears are CLEAR!!!!!! :) Yay!!!!

She also had her well-baby appointment which actually turned out to be a sick-baby appointment since she has a touch of a stomach bug and fever. She did a great job at that appointment as well and we discovered she doesn't have the flu!!!!

Despite Greg and I being absolutely exhausted due to a major lack of sleep last night, we are absolutely overjoyed that the doctors are happy with her growth and her ears...now to get rid of the rattling that is going on in her poor chest...but we have a plan of attack and we are going to carry it through! :) And then we are going to sleep....

Please say a quick prayer that our children stay asleep as well (hint, hint Daniel...king of waking up in the middle of the night!)!!!!

Hope you have a good one!

~Nicole

The Arch!

So we took a trip to the Arch towards the end of the summer...we spent several days with my family and we took everyone to see the Arch! The kids had a fantastic time!!!!! They were nervous about the ride up to the top but it went smoothly and once they realized they would be ok they had a blast!!!! Here are some pics from our trip:









Have a great night!

Time for a Post...

I've been to this point several times over the last couple of weeks and have just been stumped as to what to write about...so much is going on and I don't know where to start! So here is a listing by person of what is going on in our lives! Pictures and more stories to come later on!

Kate: Words, words, words! She is picking up new words left and right it seems...I discovered tonight that she can say the word "towel"...who knew? Not I! She loves the ABC song and will be playing and randomly break out into song! :) Very cute. She is changing so quickly that I'm not sure when she turned into such a little lady sometimes!
New funny quirk: She is definitely Daniel's sister...she has started fussing and crying at us (even to the point of yelling at times) when she can't see her feet! When she was wearing jeans that were too long the other day she was constantly yelling at Greg until he finally figured it out! Since then, she has learned the word "feet" and will yell that at you! Tonight she is not a happy camper because we put long sleeved, footed pajamas on her...it took her a while to realize it but once she did there was an all out yelling match over the fact that her feet were covered!!!!! She seems to be over it now after Greg explained that it was ok and her feet were still there! Crazy lady!

Daniel: LOVES school! We were talking tonight about vacations for next year and Daniel asked if we could go to his school...silly boy! :) He has learned how to spell his first name and loves to tell anyone who will ask! He can't wait until he is old enough to play soccer and t-ball so that he can be just like his big brother! We seem to have gotten over our aversion to most chocolate...except M&M's...maybe that will never go away...who knows!
We did find out recently that he is allergic to milk and so we now have 3 types of milk in our fridge...regular for Greg, Chris and I; soy for Daniel (he hated the taste of rice milk!); and rice milk for Kate (since she's allergic to milk and soy)...lordy...interesting. I've decided I should make a chart of my children and their allergies so that everyone knows who is allergic to what! Geesh! However, taking him off milk seems to have fixed his belly problems that he was having earlier. They still pop up every once and a while but it's not 3 1/2 weeks long like last time!

Chris: This boy has become the busiest person in the family! He is now involved in Boy Scouts Monday night, Midi for Kids Tuesday after school and soccer Tuesday night, Operation JOY at church Wednesday after school and soccer games on Saturday morning! Busy kiddo! He is loving every minutes of it!!!!!! He has his first full Pack Meeting Monday night after his make-up soccer game and he cannot WAIT!
School is going well for him...he loves his teacher and his class...he has homework almost every night which he usually sits down and works on without any problems! His new favorite series of book are the Magic Treehouse books....LOVES them!

Greg and I: Still plugging away at the everyday jobs around the house...enjoying every moment we have with our kiddos...still working hard at what we do everyday. Sometimes the house seems very overwhelming and daunting...especially when the kids are having a rough evening but when we get to curl up on the couch and snuggle them it is worth every single thing! :) We are very blessed and lucky to be where we are with what we have and we wouldn't change a thing!

So that is us in a nutshell lately! I do have some recent pictures that I will post soon!

Until next time....

So Frustrated...

This is purely a venting post...and one about poop...just so you are warned before you start reading! :)

So 3 weeks ago we got a phone call from Daniel's preschool saying that his stomach was really hurting him and that we needed to come pick him up due to bouts of diarrhea...ok...understandable and so we picked him up and he was fine for the rest of the day. Went back to school the next day feeling just fine! :) However, we started noticing that he was having off and on diarrhea for the next week...one potty visit would be perfectly normal but the next one would be runny...

Fast forward to the following Thursday...I get a phone call from his preschool again (exactly same time as the previous week mind you!) saying that he had tummy pains again and was having diarrhea AGAIN! So I went to go pick him up and his teacher asked if we had ever noticed a milk allergy because they had had cereal both Thursdays with a LOT of milk...more than what he normally drinks during a normal school day. We made an appointment with his pediatrician and took him in that afternoon...she thought a milk allergy was possible due to the pattern and the fact that he has never been a huge milk drinker. Since there were no other symptoms like a fever or decreased appetite or anything AT ALL she suggested we take him off of milk and see what happens...sounds like a plan! :)

We also made an appointment for him at our allergist (who we know very well due to Kate and Chris's allergies!) who tested him for food allergies and sure enough...milk popped up as something he was sensitive to so he also suggested we take him off all milk...good deal...we could do that!

HOWEVER...I'm not so sure that's what's up....

He has been off of milk for a week and a half now...he is still having horrible pains right before he has to go take care of #2...it doesn't matter if it is diarrhea that follows or a normal #2...he is having horrible pains right before he goes...pain that woke him up from his nap at preschool yesterday and prompted another phone call from the school. That time I didn't need to go pick him up since it had just been one occurance but still...poor kid was woken from a sound sleep with this pain!

This morning it happened again...it has been happening EVERY morning and then usually sometime in the afternoon or evening as well!

And to top it all off the poor boy was in tears this morning because all he wanted was milk on his cereal...he hates rice milk and soy milk...took me 15 minutes to console him!!! PLUS he was going on about how he couldn't have "normal" ice cream like all of his friends and his brother which brought on a new bout of tears this morning...even though he liked the soy ice cream we gave him last night...he just wants to be like his friends and his brother was all he kept saying....

My heart is breaking because I don't know what's wrong....he seems perfectly fine unless he needs to take care of #2...we have cut him off from milk which he was just growing to love and is really wanting and yet it's not helping...it's not fixing anything for him....

I have seriously debated on posting this but I'm just sad for him and frustrated to death that I don't know what is going on. SO FRUSTRATED!!!!! I just keep telling myself that all will be well...maybe it's a virus that just needs to run its course (even though he has no other odd symptoms) or maybe it's still just the milk and his body needs time to still adjust or maybe it's something completely different that will just go away....but then a huge part of me is so fearful that it's something we aren't catching....something that I should do something about. So until we figure it out all I can do is snuggle my little man when he hurts and play and laugh with him the rest of the day! :) Thank God he is such a happy little man! :)

Until next time...

Daniel Singing his ABC's! :)

This is the encore to Daniel Counting! :) I think the video speaks for itself! Enjoy!

9 Years Ago...

It all began with a ceremony in Kirksville...our wedding...what a beautiful (very hot, but beautiful) day it was! You looked handsome in your tux, I felt beautiful in my dress and all of our closest friends and family came to join us as we took our two lives and turned them into one...

I married the man of my dreams...kind-hearted, loving, sweet, hard working, funny, full of great ideas, fantastic father....the perfect man for me and someone I am thankful for everyday!

In those 9 years we have done a lot including having our 3 beautiful children, buying our first house and then buying our second house when we outgrew the first one, various trips around the country, building our life the way that works best for us! :)

We have grown together and learned together and will for a long time to come!

Love you honey!!!! Happy Anniversary!!!!!

Hello out there! Here is what we have been up to!

Chris: LOVES first grade! He really likes his teacher and his class and even enjoys doing his homework at night! We are starting to hit the point where he wants to do everything and then some so we are having to figure out exactly what happens when and what he will be doing but so far he is going to be involved in Operation JOY (at church), YMCA soccer, Cub Scouts and possibly Midi for Kids...busy kiddo! We recently discovered he's allergic to tree nuts (severely allergic) so we are having to avoid those but no other major things going on! He's a pretty happy, busy kid!

Daniel: Really has taken to preschool better than Greg and I ever could have hoped! He can't wait to go in the morning and absolutely adores his teachers and his new friends...he does still want to be at his house with his friends but school is a good alternative! :) He finally had a haircut about a week ago without screaming his head off so that is definitely progress and tonight he ate a chocolate chip cookie...that's right...chocolate chip!!!! The boy has been refusing to eat anything chocolate for quite a while now (no M&M's, no chocolate chips, no chocolate ice cream...nothing) but tonight for some reason he decided to try and now I will have to share some of my chocolate with him in the near future I'm thinking! That boy and his quirks!

Kate: Seems to enjoy going to her babysitters but I always get a big smile when I go to pick her up! :) She loves having her hair done, loves shoes and dresses...a real girly-girl! LOVE IT! If only I were more of a girly-girl! :) She has taken to dumping everything in her room out of the containers they are in and causing a real disaster in her room...but she's slowly learning how to help me clean up! Very sweet!

Greg and I: Not much new except for adjusting our morning schedule (me actually getting back into one!) and getting the kids to where they need to be and ourselves to work on time! We have actually been early the last week and a half! :) Feels good to have things organized enough that we can all 5 walk out the door and be where we need to be with what we need to have on time...and then eventually all make it back! :) Things have been going pretty smoothly and we have caught back up with housework this weekend...things tend to fall a little behind during the week! :)

Hope all is going well out there! I still need to put up posts about our visit to the Arch and my Girls' Weekend in Chicago...but for now there is a ton of laundry calling my name! Need to finish washing and folding before our week starts! :)

Have a great night!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school in our school district! Daniel and Chris both went this year and the day was a success!!!!

Daniel was very skeptical this morning after having a hard time the night before falling asleep due to excitement! :) BUT his day was wonderful! He has talked my ear off about friends he's made, food he's eaten, games he's played and he has decided that he definitely wants to go back tomorrow!

Chris's first day of first grade left him not wanting to leave at the end of the day! At his Meet the Teacher event the day before school started, he was THRILLED to see that he has a real desk instead of a table! :) Oh the little things in life!

Kate has adjusted back to her babysitter's just fine...not a single tear shed over being back there and has actually started doing things that she refused to do before (such as nap in the back bedroom!). How nice for daddy who drops her off each night!

So the first day of school was a fantastic one! Here's to hoping the rest of the school year can move as smoothly! :) Hope everyone out there who is going back to school has a great beginning!!!!!

What's New!

Well, gosh! I have been HORRIBLE at updating the blog this summer!!!! We've done tons and I have lots of pictures to share and I'm not doing a great job of keeping everyone updated!

Here are some posts to come:
*Our trip to St. Louis
*Pictures of Chris in his new glasses
*Summer Fun
*New kiddo pictures that we had taken!

What's new with us? Well, here is a quick run-down!

*School starts next week! Chris is going to be in first grade and Daniel will start preschool...where does time go????

*I'm leaving for Chicago for a girls' weekend early, early, early in the morning tomorrow morning! :) Going to be so much fun!

*We have found out that Chris is allergic to tree nuts so we start a new go around of adjusting things so that he doesn't have the horrible reaction he had to Honey Nut Cheerios...yuck!

*Kate has decided that she actually likes having her hair done....by everyone! She has been walking around the house this morning giving her brothers her barrettes so that they can put them in for her! We'll see how long this lasts! :)

*Daniel has a new pet fish that he has named Max...he is always looking in on him...making sure he takes naps (who knew?) and that he in general is doing ok! :) He adores that fish!!! :)

*My sister is moving in this weekend and so our last pet (besides the fish and hermit crabs) will be moving out...she is going to give Gizmo a good home...heartbreaking that he won't be here with us but good that he will be with someone who we know and someone who knows him....

Life has been going and going well! :) Everyone is happy and healthy! I promise to update a bunch as soon as we get back from Chicago! Have a good one!

Headwaters of the Mississippi!

While up in Minnesota we also went to Lake Itasca State Park...where the headwaters of the Mississippi River are. I have always wanted to visit where this mighty river starts and now not only have I visited but I have stuck my feet in the water! :) It was a great place for the kids to play and get wet...they loved every minute of it!

Chris liked climbing across the rocks...one side is Lake Itasca and as the water flows over the rocks that is the beginning of the Mississippi! :)

Kate was not a fan of sticking her feet in the water!

Surprisingly...Daniel LOVED it!

This was such a fantastic day! We also got to see Minnesota's largest white pine tree...the kids got to play on the beach of the lake...they got to climb a fire tower....it was a great day! :)

Turtle Races!

So I haven't blogged much this summer about other trips we've been on so here it goes! :)

During the week of the Fourth of July we headed up to Big Boy Lake in Minnesota...my brother in law and his family have a cabin up there and so we went to join them for the week! While up there, we decided to take the kids to Longville...the Turtle Racing Capital of the World...not joking! :) The had such fun watching the turtles race and when it was their turn they were beside themselves! Over 400 kiddos registered that day to race turtles...it was pretty fun to watch!

When it was the kids' turn, they went to middle and each selected a turtle and went to the middle circle. When the announcer counted off and said "Go!", the kids all put their turtles down and headed out of the circle and watched to see which turtle would make it to the outer ring first...that turtle would be the winner. They also gave out a slowpoke award at each race! The kids had so much fun!!!!

The "racing" area!

Chris with his turtle:

Daniel with his turtle:

And they're off!


It was definitely a fun and interesting experience! :)

Separate Rooms!

The boys have been on each other's nerves for a while and Chris was really wanting his own space so after discussing different options, we've put the boys in separate rooms! We moved Chris into our guest bedroom downstairs and Daniel is staying in the room the boys used to share. They are loving their separate spaces and now that they are all moved and organized we are all happier! Here are some pictures of their rooms...

Daniel's room:

Chris's room:

Have a great day! :)

Been a little while...

So I have been to our blog site several times since my last post and I just keep getting stumped on what to actually blog about...things have happened, some great, some not so great and a lot of in between but I'm just not sure where to start so here is a list of what is new with us!

*We spent a week in Minnesota on Big Boy Lake with Greg's family. His brother and wife own some property up there so we had a great time hanging out with them, swimming, going out on the boat, visiting parks, etc. up in Northern Minnesota! It was COLD at the beginning of the week but the middle to the end had perfect weather! Pictures will be coming from that adventure!

* While in Minnesota we found out that Greg's Grandma Bailey passed away. I have hesitated to put this out there but I also have wanted to put it out there...if that makes sense! She was such a wonderful lady...always thinking of others, so sweet, loving, kind...a beautiful soul. She is going to be missed so much!!!! She deserves her own post and there will be one coming soon! So to honor her and to support Greg's parents, we are headed down to Florida at the end of this week....

* The other things going on are much smaller but important in their own ways just the same...Chris is taking swimming lessons, Daniel is getting VERY excited for preschool, Kate is starting to RUN everywhere, we are debating our bedroom situation (the boys currently share and Chris is feeling the need for a little space of his own as is Daniel it turns out!), the kids are all enjoying their summer with their friends and we are all healthy! :)

So that is us in a nutshell at the moment...

Please keep checking back and I hope to have a more coherent post very soon!!!!

Disney: Day 2 - Updated with Pictures!

So before I posted that I didn't have any pictures of our day at Hollywood Studies but now I do!!!! With a big THANK YOU to my father-in-law, I have some fantastic pictures and here are a few!!!!

The kids in front of the Sorcerer's Hat!

The way the bushes are tended to at Disney World amazed me all week!

The first thing we did was head to the new Toy Story Mania ride! We got there early enough that we were able to get on in about 20 minutes! When we were done with the ride we automatically got FastPasses so that we could come back and ride it again later on! I was wondering if Daniel was going to enjoy it since last year he really did not like the 3D glasses but it turns out that it was his favorite ride the whole week!!!!! :) We even found a toy at a gift shop that is a small version of the "gun" you use during the carnival games on this ride...this ride was definitely a big hit!!!!

Waiting in line...lots of neat things to see while waiting!

Grandma and Daniel waiting for the ride to start! The 3D glasses were fun!

After the ride, we went across the walkway to meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody! Daniel didn't want to go near Buzz and Woody and only got close enough to have them sign his book! :)


After that ride, we headed over to the Star Wars area to watch the Jedi Training Academy. Chris got a seat right in the front row, center but unfortunately wasn't chosen to be a Padawan in Training! He LOVED watching the whole show though! We caught him practicing the moves they showed the kids in the show later on in the day! :)
We ate at lunch at the Playhouse Disney lunch at Hollywood and Vine. The food was fantastic and the kids loved meeting characters from the Disney Channel!

Kate's favorite character was Leo! She got so excited every time he walked by!

Leo from the Little Einsteins...

June from the Little Einsteins...

Goliath from JoJo and Goliath...

JoJo!!!!

We then went to see the Playhouse Disney show which the kids loved....it included all kinds of characters from the Disney Channel shows that the boys still watch...including Handy Manny!
Then it was off to Toy Story Mania AGAIN! :) Daniel also got to ride this ride again on Friday while Chris did his Star Wars stuff!

Meeting the Incredibles....Chris was in heaven!

Kate wasn't too sure about Sorcerer Mickey...she like looking at him from a distance!

After we left Sorcerer Mickey we discovered that Frozone had made an appearance where the Incredibles were....

One of the other neat things we did was to watch the Stunt show...it was warm and crowded when we got there but we had good seats and the show was interesting! Chris and Daniel thought it was really neat watching the cars drive so fast and spin around and catch on fire...they LOVED IT!


What a fun day it was! And looking back at the pictures now just brings a smile to my face!

Hope you are having a great day!

I really don't have a title for this one...

We just got a phone call that Sierra has been adopted...I'm feeling relieved that she has a permanent home now and absolutely sad that her home is not with us anymore...

For those who don't know, Chris and Kate are allergic to dogs. Chris is only slightly allergic but Kate is severely allergic. So much so that it was suggested that we find new homes for our two pups...heartbreaking. Her health is way more important...that goes without saying but it was still a hard blow nonetheless. We soon will be down to fish and hermit crabs since Chris is severely allergic to cats.

Anyway, Dakota found a home quickly with friends of ours who live a little way out of town and have quite a bit of land for him to just run! He is so extremely happy and has fit into their family seamlessly! It has been truly great knowing that he is happy and they are happy!

Sierra proved to be more difficult. She is 7 and people just weren't looking for a dog right now so we gave ourselves the deadline of our Disney trip to find a home for her or we were going to have to put her into a foster home and that is indeed what we ended up doing. We have been in contact with the people she was placed through and the call we got tonight told us that she has been adopted by a very nice man and his 5 children...the perfect place for Sierra to be! :) I'm just very sad that it's not my kids she's with but I know she will be happy and I know they will take care of her.

I'm just thankful for programs like this...I now can rest easier knowing for sure that Sierra is in a good home...

Until next time!

Favorite Summer Things...Wading Pools

I don't have pictures to go along with this post but I must mention one of my family's favorite things here in Kirksville in the summer. It would be the wading pools! :)

Kirksville has several of these small pools that are absolutely free to go to and this year they are starting to fill them at about 2 and then emptying them at 6....perfect time for a swim! :) The kids love them and they can go have a blast getting as wet as they want while I sit myself under the trees in the shade and talk with my friends! Love it! :) Kate is not a fan yet but I'm sure it won't be long before she is in there with her brothers splashing around, etc. The best part? There isn't a pool for me to dump or a muddy mess in my yard!

We were at the wading pool today for THREE HOURS and the kids had TONS of fun as did I! I got to sit and talk with friends while my kids went and played....fantastic!

Now that we have finally been once I'm sure the kids will be asking on a daily basis if we can go back!

Until next time....

Favorite Summer Things...Popsicles!

So I have decided to start a new series of posts...they may or may not be interrupted by other posts about random things but this new series of posts will always be titled...Favorite Summer Things. We have many favorite summer things at our house...almost too many sometimes!

Popsicles are a BIG THING in our house...the minute I said the word "summer" Daniel was asking for popsicles!!!! His favorite kind are the plastic tubes that you can buy like 50 for 5 bucks or something crazy like that! Love it! We have had them on a daily basis almost since summer started! Daniel and Chris love choosing what color they will have each day...fun!
Kate has even tried them...this was her having her very first taste! :) She wasn't too sure at first and once she realized they were cold she ran away and watched her brothers from a distance...it really didn't take too long for her to come back and truly try one!At first she wasn't too sure but once she got past the shock of the coldness she was all over them! :) Another popsicle obsessed kid is in our future I think! :)
Hope you are doing all of your favorite summer things and I will post more later on!