The Marshall Family

Dinner Out w/ Mom!

2011-10-11T17:22:00.001-05:00

Tonight the kids and I went out for dinner at one of their favorite places...McDonalds....not my first choice by any stretch of the imagination!

After a busy day and while daddy is at a meeting, we took advantage and talked about our days, what the kids want for Christmas (so sad but they are already thinking about their lists!), and what we want to do with the rest of our night. What better place to do this than the home of the their favorite french fries! :)

Big Hair Cut!!!!

2011-10-09T17:54:00.001-05:00

Kate wanted to get her hair cut short....I kept questioning her just to make sure and boy oh boy! That girl was positive! So off to get our hair cut we went! I must say...she did not waver once! This was the first big haircut she has had...more than just your average trim (it is a very cute look for her and she LOVES it!!!!!) Here are some pics:

Truman Homecoming

2011-10-09T17:04:00.001-05:00

This year we decided to go to the Truman Homecoming game. The kids haven't been to a game and Greg and I wanted to sit near the band and be all nostalgic! It feels like just yesterday that we were sitting in the bleachers, chanting silly cheers, yelling for a Truman 1st Down, etc. And now here we are...11 years and 3 kiddos later! :). Many of the cheers an traditions are the same and some have evolved! :). Loved it!

Family picture!

2011-10-09T14:54:00.001-05:00

Pokemon

2011-10-08T12:25:00.001-05:00

Pokemon Mania has hit my house!!!!! Chris got his first deck about a month ago...has picked up random cards along the way. We now have hit full blown Pokemon fever!!!! Oh boy! Gotta brace myself!

Blogging from my phone?????

2011-10-08T11:08:00.001-05:00

I just learned that I can blog from my phone! :). This has the potential to be really cool!!! So I'm just testing this out and adding random pictures! :). Have a good one!

Hmmmm....

2011-04-12T20:12:00.002-05:00

What is this thing in my bookmarks??? The Marshall Family Blog...huh. I think that is the thing I'm supposed to be updating on a regular basis to keep family and friends updated on us and as a way to keep track of our lives so that one day I can look back and remember things (due to my horrible memory!)... Well, shoot! I guess I should be better about this, huh? Especially if there is anyone out there still reading! I will try and be back soon to update, etc...lots has been going on for everyone! Have a great one and I will be back soon!!!!

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-02T12:25:00.001-06:00

So the predictions came true. A blizzard actually hit Kirksville. And it was like nothing I have ever seen!!!! The wind and snow last night were crazy! The snow drifts outside are forces to be reckoned with and since I've been up this morning I have seen 2 cars go down Shepherd...and only one down our street...which that poor soul got to the end and had to back their way back to Shepherd! I did hear a snow plow at 1:30 last night but they cleared a path that is big enough for one car and with the wind outside right now, that is quickly disappearing! We managed to shovel a path to the end of our driveway plus an additional 5 feet into the street. Absolutely unbelievable! Here are some pics!

Chris in our driveway...trying to get to the street!

Shoveling a path to the street:

The drifts at the south side of our house:

We can get to the street!!!!! :)

Breaking the Funk!

2011-01-20T21:17:00.003-06:00

So the afore-mentioned funk is on its way out the door!!!! I believe it is due to the weather, sickness in the house, etc...so I'm determined to break it!

I love snow...but am not a fan of snow days...I love my days off in the spring when it is nice outside...although staying home with my kids is always a blessing...

As I said good night to each one tonight, I was reminded of this blessing in my life...actually the three little blessings in my life! :) Chris with his newly developing sense of humor...what I like to call his constant need to split hairs...Daniel and his sweet, sweet smiles and his need to still snuggle mommy...and Kate with her constant sense of independence which drives me crazy and makes me proud all at the same time!

No matter the weather, no matter the illnesses that go through our house, no matter the frustration over things beyond my control (cough, cough, medical issues, cough, cough)...I'm very blessed!!!!

Until next time...

Funk...

2011-01-20T18:13:00.002-06:00

Ever feel in a funk and it's really hard to snap out of? Yeah...that's been me for the last week or so...I have moments where I think it's broken and then days like today happen and I fall right back into it! :( Ugh...today was just a long day here...nothing really wrong happened...in fact the kids all got along, I got some cleaning done and some surfing Facebook, etc...

Just a funk...a funk that I hope to break soon...

Random Thoughts...

2011-01-17T11:23:00.002-06:00

So it seems as though a lot, and yet nothing too new has been going on around here lately!

*Christmas came and went with time spent with family and friends...just enjoying the time together! Church services were attended, gifts were exchanged...lots of love and snuggles! :) I have some pictures I will post soon that tell the whole story!

*Kate had her blood draw and we are waiting to hear from Saint Louis on our next steps. We are actually waiting to see if they ran the right test or not...if not then she will need another blood draw early this week and then we will need to wait for those results for another week at least! This whole process has been so very long...mainly because we really had to wait for the IVIG to wear off so that the immunologist could see exactly what her system is doing! I'm just ready for the blood work to be done...a plan in place and move on. I had foolishly led myself to start thinking that it was all a fluke. That in August her numbers were just low because of fighting the staph infection for so long and her long term bouts of antibiotics. I mean...she hasn't been sick winter at all except for one case of the stomach bug that went around...so surely that means that all is ok...at least that's what I let myself start thinking. Come to find out that I wasn't right...there is something going on and we just have to wait and find out what it is for sure! :) But soon...very soon (I hope!) we should know more!

* The boys got their progress reports for the second quarter and both did a wonderful job! Chris has met all of the curriculum related stuff but apparently likes to talk in class! :) He is very much my kiddo! Daniel is getting closer to being ready for kindergarten...has all of his letters and numbers down...we just have to work on writing his name!

* The Wii....this has become such an obsession in our house! The kids have some Just Dance games, Super Mario Bros (their new favorite!), and Boom Blox...the Wii is played almost daily for at least 10 minutes...and I have to admit...I'm addicted too! It does make for some fun family time! :)

* In July, Greg is going to be rehired by Truman since they have discontinued the contract with Sungard Collegis so we have some things to figure out there with insurance, retirement, etc....but he worked for Truman before Sungard came into the picture so it is all good! :) He loves his job and has been doing some jobs on the side which he really loves doing as well!

Time with family and friends, piano lessons, scouts, Church, school and daily life are keeping us so very busy! I have some pictures that I will be posting soon...just a mish mash of life really...I've not been the best at pulling out the good old camera very often...something I need to get better at actually! These times are flying by and I want to remember it all! :)

Have a good one!

The Last 2 Days!

2011-01-08T14:33:00.002-06:00

So after much stress, talking friends' ears off, etc...we have finally made progress with potty training!!!! WHEW!

For the last 2 days, we have had only 1 accident (besides sleep times...which we have to work on!)...we even made it through Walmart today! :) THANK GOODNESS!!!

I thought for sure this girl would never use the restroom...guess she is proving me wrong! :)

Have a good one!

The Temperature is What???

2010-12-30T15:23:00.002-06:00

It is warm outside. It is the end of December and it is around 60 degrees outside!!!! What is going on with that? I would love to have chilly temperatures and some snow on the ground! It was all there yesterday...today...gone!

I know we always have a day or two of this but 60? Really?

The forecast shows that tomorrow should be just as warm with some rain and then we are back to more seasonable weather...right around 30...just where I like it! Now we have to work on getting some snow back!

Have a great day!

Treadmill...

2010-11-16T18:16:00.002-06:00

I have decided that the treadmill and I are going to have a love/hate relationship!!!! I have been on the treadmill for the last two days due to schedules, etc. not working out for me to run while it is still light out and man...the treadmill makes a run seem SOOOOOOO long!!!! I do love being able to still run even though I am inside...but running in the same spot is just not my thing!

Outside running is more my speed! :)

Till next time...

Stop the Coloring!!!!

2010-11-12T22:00:00.002-06:00

Oh my goodness!!!! Kate has become a coloring fiend!!!!

This would not be a problem except for the fact that she is coloring on EVERYTHING!!!!

A week or two ago, she found glue paints and colored all over her best buddy's baby doll...next it was coloring with diaper cream all over the furniture in her bedroom...this afternoon it was red dry erase marker all over the wall in the basement (with a little blue crayon thrown in!) and also tonight was pen in her brother's brand new book. AAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!

When I talked to her about coloring in her brother's brand new book tonight, I asked her what we had talked about earlier when she colored on the walls...her response: "We color on paper."

I asked her what she had done that was not ok and she told me: "I colored on paper." Hmmmm...girl has a point....so I had to clarify my earlier "coloring on paper only" to "coloring on paper that mommy and daddy give you only...and you have to ask first....NO BOOKS!"

Lordy...some day I will look back on this and giggle...I'm sure. But tonight...not funny at all....

Going Gluten Free...

2010-11-09T19:42:00.002-06:00

So Daniel was tested not that long ago for the same immune system issues that Kate has been having. His digestive system has always been interesting for lack of a better word. We have been down the milk allergy road (which he seems to have outgrown) and even when he was completely of milk, he still was having some problems which is what prompted the testing.

The great news is that his immune system is working wonderfully!!!! The bad news is that one of his tests (an indicator for Celiac's) came back high. This has prompted us to talk to our allergy specialist, our pediatrician, etc. and to do a bunch of our own research. No matter what, this test indicates a number of gluten related things such as Celiac's, gluten intolerance, etc. (at least that is what my research has said!) and so we have decided to go as gluten free as we can for Daniel...we figure it is worth it to give it a good try and see if we notice improvement...

The best news...his digestive system seems to be settling down!!!!

It has had its tough moments but he seems to be handling it like a champ! He loves having his own bread, his own cookies although sometimes he gets frustrated when we can't have something (such as biscuits because I am looking for a recipe and time!) but we are just going to keep on plugging away!

We are going to track what he eats, how he's feeling, etc. and check back in with our pediatrician to see what she says! But for now, I'm excited about the calmer digestive system!!!! :)

Gluten free...lordy....challenging but good for my little guy! Bring it on!

I'm Back and Motivated! :)

2010-11-07T18:04:00.002-06:00

Well, again...it has been a while since I have blogged! But here I am again! I'm ready to jump back on this bandwagon and BLOG!

I have added 2 new widgets to the side of the blog because I'm working towards running a 5K in the spring! With motivation from Miranda (THANKS!!!!!) I have started running...right now it is more like running/walking! But either way...I have a goal and I plan to reach it! I started a couple of weeks ago...then got sick...then started again...then Greg went to Utah and it was hard to fit it in with school and three kiddos! :) But here I am...another weekend and another 2 days of running in! I have logged 16 miles so far and I plan on working hard towards this goal of mine!

I have to admit...I have never been a runner. In fact, I have always despised running!!!! What is different now? Not really sure...but I sure do like to put on my running clothes, plug in my iPod and get outside!

Other than that, not much is new! We had a fantastic Halloween, school is going well for us all and Kate is doing well! She sure is a spunky, opinionated little girl but lordy do I love her! :) Chris had perfect attendance first quarter which is a first for him and he is THRILLED! Daniel is just being his happy-go-lucky self...love it!

I hope all is going well for anyone still out there reading! See ya next time!

Been awhile...

2010-10-19T19:47:00.002-05:00

So it's been awhile since I've blogged...I really need to start doing that again!

What's new?

*I had started walking with some running in on a regular basis (which I really like!!!!) but then I got sick with this cold/cough thing and I'm hoping to start back up here soon! I may post a link to dailymile.com where I'm keeping track of my workouts!

* Soccer season has come and gone...the boys both did wonderful jobs and Daniel scored 4 goals over the course of the season! :)

* Chris is really loving second grade and has been very responsible with his homework, etc.! :) Proud of this little man!

*Parent teacher conferences are this week so I will update you on how the boys are doing in school soon!

* All is pretty status quo with Miss Kate these days!

* Daniel has some diet changes headed his way to try and get his system calmer!

As for Greg and I...we are plugging along. We are taking whatever life throws our way and trying to go with it the way we know best! :) Sometimes it is challenging, sometimes it is easy...but either way, we take each day one day at a time and are thankful for our little family each and everyday!

I am going to try and do a better job of keeping this blog updated! Hope you all have a great night!

Love to you all!

Nicole

Less than a month!!!!

2010-07-19T09:19:00.003-05:00

Well, the countdown is on...we have less than a month until school starts again and even less than that until I need to be in for Teacher Meetings, etc.! Where in the world has this summer gone???? I honestly feel like we have just recently been able to catch our breath this summer...whew!

The main attraction this summer...the hospital! :( Kate has spent more time in the hospital this summer than I ever thought any of my kiddos would...ten days...dang. By some freak accident, she managed to get a staph infection in the soft tissue of her right foot which then led to it being in the bone. Official diagnosis...cellulitis and osteomyelitis. Not fun...but now 10 hospital days, 2 surgeries, lots of IVs and antibiotics, an orthopedic boot, etc. we now seem to be on the mend...we hope! :) Almost two months after this all started, she is still limping on her foot and it is still swollen but with a high dose of antibiotics we have been told all will be improving very soon!

We also took a wonderful trip to Washington DC...a trip that the boys LOVED, Kate still babbles about sometimes and one that I will remember forever! :) The monuments, the history, the artifacts, the experiences....all were priceless!!!!! I even got to see the real Declaration of Independence and the real Constitution...so unbelievable!!!!! Pictures are posted in our previous post!

Chris went to his first overnight Boy Scout camp and had a lot of fun! He and Greg are going to another one in August to celebrate the Boy Scout's 100th Anniversary which is this year!

The boys have also spent a week at Grandma and Grandad's which was a lot of fun for them! Daniel is still talking about going on the train and building with dominoes and Chris is still telling me little details from the week with his cousins! :)

Summer is now winding down for us...although Greg and I are hoping to plan a weekend trip somewhere if we can fit it in for our 10 year anniversary in September! Not sure where we will go (wherever we can find a great deal! :) ) or when we will actually go but hopefully it will be sometime soon! We also are needing to go and shop for back to school clothes, etc.!

So that is where we are right now! :) Just working through things with Kate and trying not to let the small things with her stress us out...I find that I am watching her like a hawk and the smallest change in her foot makes a million questions start running through my head...I am hoping that soon that will slow down!

Well, I am off to clean on this wonderfully stormy day!!!!

Nicole

DC Photos...

2010-06-18T13:25:00.003-05:00

Ok...after talking to Greg and thinking about the sheer number of pictures we took on our trip, we decided to upload the pictures to a Picasa web album for everyone to see! :) There are about 180 of them and while I'm sad because there is no commentary to go along with them, I'm happy because there they are...all of them! :)

Here is the link:

Washington DC 2010

:) Enjoy!!!! :)

Technical Difficulties! :(

2010-06-17T21:12:00.002-05:00

So I have been trying to get more pictures up from DC and blogger just isn't wanting to cooperate! :( I got the four up from Mount Vernon (that was all it would let me!) and now it is freezing every time...

I will try again as soon as either my service or blogger will work with me! :)

Have a good evening!

Mount Vernon!

2010-06-17T21:05:00.000-05:00

The first day we were in DC we took a trip to Mount Vernon where George and Martha Washington lived! There was a scavenger hunt for the kids to do and once they were finished, they were each awarded a pressed penny! :) The scavenger hunt sent them looking in all of the outbuildings, etc! Fun! :)

The house:

George and Martha Washington are buried at Mount Vernon in the building below. Many of their family members are buried here as well.

While we were visiting, a high school band dressed in period clothing played on the bowling green in front of the house. Pretty cool!

This is the view from the back patio...absolutely stunning!

Blog? What's that???

2010-06-07T13:28:00.003-05:00

That seems to be my frame of mind lately!!! I have been so horrible about updating and so much has been going on! I will have to take it in chunks!

KATE: Turned 2 in April and we had a birthday party for her in the backyard! It was so much fun! It was the first time we had been able to have an outside birthday party and so many of our friends and family were able to come! :) WONDERFUL!

At the end of May, Kate was in the hospital for an infection in her foot...those 6 days in the hospital are a blur and they were almost some of the longest days of my life. She is definitely on the road to recovery now and is back up and about bugging her brothers! More on this situation in another post!

DANIEL: First year of preschool over and done! He LOVED every minute of it! He has decided he is a Minnesota Twins fan because one of his teachers is from Minnesota and she LOVES the Twins! :) He is sticking with this and it has added some fun conversations to this house!

He played soccer for the first time this spring and can't wait for the next round to start in the fall. He had fun running around, chasing the ball and hanging on the goal posts...I have some cute pictures and I will have to post those later on!

CHRIS: The new second grader in the house. Man...I don't know where the time is going but I can't believe one more year at the Primary school and then he will be with me at Ray Miller! Seems to be just flying by! He took piano lessons this year at the school and has discovered that he has a knack for it! We are going to continue lessons this summer...he LOVES it! He also played soccer again this spring, completed his Tiger Cub badge and is now working on his requirements for being a Wolf Scout. He is going on his first Boy Scout campout soon and can't wait!

His report card was outstanding and he finally got a Satisfactory on "Talking at appropriate times!" :) We like to tease him about that! He is reading like crazy right now and his favorite books right now are the Boxcar Children books.

Things for Greg and I are pretty status quo! We are both working away and trying to keep up with the three kiddos! :)

We are working on packing up to head to DC tomorrow afternoon and there will of course be a blog post on that when we get back! :)

Hope all is going well out there! I'm not sure if there is even anyone still checking this but I'm still here and I'm going to commit myself to blogging again! It is the perfect way to record our lives and share it with our friends and family!

Have a good one!

The things kids say (my kids at least!)!

2010-03-12T12:56:00.002-06:00

Kate: "Myself! Myself!"

This is what she says when she wants to do something on her own...be it putting the butter away (like today at lunch) or getting a diaper or playing a game...funny!

Daniel: "I love you all the way to ______________ (fill in the blank!)"

He says this all the time and the words he puts in the blanks are what is really funny! This morning I was told that he loved me all the way to Grandma's windows! :) Last night he loved me all the way to Disney World and back AND all the way to Walmart and back. Funny!

Chris: With Chris it is more the way he says things this day...he is very dramatic at times and he can be so passionate about cleaning...this morning I got a "But MOOOOOOM!" with the classic expression all kids give when they say that phrase...I just had to laugh. I said it enough times growing up and I heard my siblings say it lots as well...that is a phrase and expression that will never skip a generation I've decided!

An update on us!

2010-02-15T21:08:00.001-06:00

So it has been awhile since my last blog post! Time sure does fly!

Things have been pretty status quo for us!

Chris did participate in his Pack's Pinewood Derby race but I will post more on that later on! With pictures!

So to sum this little post up...we are still here...still doing well and still having fun! :)

Be back soon with a longer post!

Oh man!

2010-01-16T17:44:00.002-06:00

Ok...I'm horrible at updating the blog these days. Things have been crazy!

We have reclaimed our house after Christmas...all of the wonderful gifts the kids received found homes (although they don't stay there long!) and most of our decorations are down. School is back in session and things seem to be going ok!

Nothing much is really new here...we are just cruising along doing what we need to do and what we enjoy doing. I wish I had some great stories to share or something new to announce but...nothing. As I type this I realize that perhaps that is pretty boring...hmmmm...

I hope to have some pretty funny stories to share soon! :)

Hope all is well with all who are still reading!

The Best Christmas!

2009-12-28T20:49:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-12-07T13:11:00.002-06:00

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!!!!

2009-11-04T22:04:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-11-04T21:59:00.001-06:00

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!

2009-11-04T16:21:00.002-06:00

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!!!!

2009-10-14T17:52:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-10-04T20:30:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-09-26T19:43:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-09-12T08:19:00.002-05:00

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! :)

2009-09-08T18:32:00.002-05:00

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

9 Years Ago...

2009-09-02T20:51:00.002-05:00

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!!!!!

2009-08-30T18:55:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-08-19T18:20:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-08-12T09:02:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-08-05T17:41:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-08-05T17:37:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-07-20T11:09:00.000-05:00

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...

2009-07-08T09:07:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-06-24T11:39:00.006-05:00

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!

2009-06-20T17:22:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-18T18:50:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-06-16T12:06:00.004-05:00

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!

Disney: Day 7

2009-06-15T09:16:00.006-05:00

On our last full day at Walt Disney World we spent the day at Magic Kingdom! We started the day out by getting Kate's first haircut!!!! She sat really still (I was worried she would be as hard to get a haircut for as Daniel!) and once she had her binkie and her daddy, she was good to go! :) This was also the day that my camera decided to act up and so I have this horrible black line on all of my pictures...we have yet to figure out what is wrong with the thing!

Anyway, here it is....the first cut!!!! :)

Aren't I beautiful? :)

When Kate was finished, Chris decided he would like a haircut and so he did! They put glitter and confetti in his hair when he was done...a great magical Disney touch! :)

After haircuts, we went TONS of rides and saw some shows like Mickey's PhilharMagic, Enchanted Tiki Rom, Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Tea Cups, Snow White, Peter Pan, the Indy Speedway, and the list just goes on and on!!!!! So much fun!

Daniel getting ready for the jungle cruise! He had the chance to sit up by the guide who really liked Daniel and deemed Daniel his new buddy!

Posing with Grandma outside Tony's...where we ate lunch! YUMMY!!!!!

A statue of Walt and Mickey in front of the castle...a very popular place to take pictures!

Riding the carousel!!! Daniel LOVED it!

Chris didn't at first...he was tired and hungry and wasn't sure he was up for high the horse was but once it started going he loved it as well....

Waiting for the parade!

Playing in Ariel's Grotto...great way to cool off! They were soaked when we left....

Kate wanted to make Dumbo go up and down!

Chris driving Grandma around the track! Grandad had already gone around the curve! I will have to find that picture!

Greg on the phone with me telling me that he was coming around the curve but I had already spotted them and was taking this picture!!!! Daniel loved driving!!!!

Daniel and I then went on the Barnstormer...we got to sit in the very first row and we had such fun...Daniel loved the fact that it was an airplane!

Tea Cups again!

Neither of them could pull the sword from the stone...bummer!

Kate on the carousel the second or third time we rode it! :)

Castle at night...

And then the perfect way to end our vacation...the fireworks! We had a great seat in the middle at the end of Main Street. After the fireworks were over we took our time getting to our bus and then we headed back to the resort!

Our whole trip was so much fun. Getting to see Grandma Bailey twice and Greg's cousins was fantastic...we haven't seen them in a very long time and it was great to kind of catch up and see everyone!

Our week at Disney was everything we hoped it would be...the boys got a TON of signatures, visited 11 different countries, saved the world 3 times, danced with a princess, met Star Wars idols, rode a tons of different rides, saw amazing fireworks, watched phenomenal shows, saw Mickey 4 different times, at some delicious food, and had some great family time! The week was fantastic!

Hope you are having a great day!

Disney: Day 6

2009-06-14T16:04:00.006-05:00

Friday was the day Chris had been waiting for all week! Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios! :)

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios this is what we found standing on the roof of the entrance:
Star Wars music was playing, there were posters everywhere and every once in a while you would hear those storm troopers shout out orders to people! Chris was in HEAVEN!

Once inside, we were handed a special map for the events going on around the park and off Chris, Greg and I went with Kate to find some of Chris's Star Wars heroes while Grandma and Grandad took Daniel to ride the Toy Story ride again (Daniel's favorite!).

Chris meeting Pabloo...the Ewok...

Meeting Luke Skywalker...Daniel was back for this one and was telling him all about his hat!

Chris's favorite part....meeting Darth Vader! We waited an hour to meet this guy!!!!

After meeting Darth, we managed to meet back up with the rest of the family just in time for the Star Wars parade....Jedi Mickey led things off!
After the parade, Chris really wanted to meet Jedi Mickey but he actually ended up meeting Darth Goofy (love his boxers!) and Storm Trooper Donald....fun!
On our way out of the park, Chris and I met Ready Freddy Fiddlesticks who claimed he was waiting for a bus! Chris thought he was serious at first and was so confused! But once he figured out that he was an actor all was good and we were able to play along for a little while!
After spending a little time at Hollywood Studios, we park-hopped over to Magic Kingdom where we did a little relaxing and then hit the rides! We had just a little time at Magic Kingdom before we needed to head over to the Grand Floridian for dinner with Cinderella!

Hanging with Grandad....

Waiting for the train on Main Street...what a great view of the park! Look at that Castle!

When we arrived at the Grand Floridian, we changed Kate into her princess dress that Grandma Marshall made her...she looked beautiful! :) Here she is on the grand staircase (that's what the boys kept calling it!)....

This dinner was beautiful...Prince Charming, Cinderella, Lady Tremaine (the stepmother), Antastasia and Drizella (the stepsisters) were all there...Prince Charming told Daniel that he looked like a little Peter Pan! :) Daniel was THRILLED! Chris thought it was neat meeting a prince as well as a princess!

About 45 minutes into dinner, they announced a waltz and Prince Charming and Cinderella led it off then they all branched out and choose a child to dance with. Cinderella chose Daniel which was so fun and sweet!!!!! He had a great time!!!!
When they were done dancing, Cinderella gave him a BIG hug and then kissed him on the cheek!!!! :) He blushed when I told him she had left lipstick on him! :)
When dinner was over, it was time to go back to Magic Kingdom where we hung out and rode more rides like It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh (it was the ten year anniversary of its opening!) and the ride Daniel was so anxious to ride....The TEA CUPS!!!!!

It was such a fantastically busy day....the kids got to see Star Wars characters and Princesses all in one day...where else can you do that in the world? :) It was a lot of fun....makes me smile when I think about it!

Next up: Day 7 at Magic Kingdom....our last day....

Disney: Day 5

2009-06-12T12:29:00.004-05:00

So on Thursday of our trip, we headed back over to Epcot! Grandma, Grandad, Chris and Daniel rode Soarin' while Greg and I hung out with Kate at the exit...Disney does this cool thing called Parent Swap...if you have kiddos that are too young to ride the ride, you can get a ticket at the entrance to the ride and one parent or whatever can ride the ride in the normal stand-by line and when they get off, then the other riders can get on the ride using the FastPass entrance! Fantastic! :)

Kate and her cute pigtails courtesy of Grandma! :) Thanks Grandma!!!! Love them!!!!

After riding Soarin', we headed over to the Contemporary to have lunch with Mickey and Friends at Chef Mickey's! YUMMY!!!! It was still technically breakfast so we had delicious breakfast food for lunch! :)

Mickey Mouse!

Meeting Goofy....

Donald signing books....

Minnie Mouse! This was the only place we saw her so we were thrilled!

Kate giving Mickey a kiss! So cute....

The view from our table at Chef Mickey's....we could see the Castle and Tomorrowland very clearly from where we were!

On the way back to Epcot, the boys and Greg and I had the chance to ride with the driver of the monorail!!!!! VERY COOL! There is room for four people up front and so we each took a seat and it was almost like riding on a roller coaster! It was raining while we were on it but we didn't care!

Daniel was VERY excited because the monorail we got to ride up front on was yellow which was his favorite color monorail! When we got off, we each got a Walt Disney World Monorail co-pilot license....
Then it was off to do everything we didn't have a chance to do on Tuesday...the only problem being that it decided to rain....a lot! At one point we were back in the countries and decided to make a dash from Germany to the next country over and we got soaked! After the downpour stopped though the boys had fun splashing in puddles and the drizzle that was left afterwards didn't bother us at all!

We headed back to the front of the park after the rain stopped to ride Universe of Energy (which quit working about 10 minutes in...bummer!) and to ride the Figment ride....right outside there were these neat water features where the water would "jump" from one to the next! The boys had a great time trying to catch the jumping water!
Towards the end of the afternoon, we headed back to the countries to find a spot for the fireworks show...we also went on the ride in Mexico which the kiddos LOVED! We found an amazing spot in Mexico and the fireworks shot right out of the ground in front of us a couple of times!!!! Talk about amazing!
Coming soon: Day 6 at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom!

Disney: Day 4

2009-06-11T08:18:00.005-05:00

Wednesday was our day to head on over to Animal Kingdom! We got there nice and early and headed for the Safari!The boys were very excited about going in the trucks and seeing the animals up close!!!! Daniel was really looking forward to seeing some elephants and Chris was excited to see everything! :)
The animals were all out and fairly close to the vehicles....a bonus for going so early in the morning!

We then headed out to Rafiki's Planet Watch area where the kiddos got to pet goats, sheep and even a cow! I told Greg that I felt silly that our kids had to travel all the way to Florida to pet a cow when we live in Missouri and there are cows EVERYWHERE! But they loved it!
The kids were also able to meet several characters including Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket!

While walking around the park, we came across this band playing! They were fantastic!

Greg, the boys and I headed over to ride the Kali River Rapids while Grandma, Grandad and Kate went to watch the Flights of Wonder show! The boys LOVED the river rapids! We ended up soaked which felt wonderful since it was 91 outside that day!

To round out our day, we watched The Festival of the Lion King which has to be one of my favorite shows at Disney World! :) The music is fun (and I can sing along and it's so loud no one can hear me!) and the show is fast-paced and the kids are entertained! Wonderful show!!!!
We headed back to the resort a little early and Chris decided to test his strength by trying to lift the star by the bus drop-off point! :)
We ate dinner at the resort and the boys were able to enjoy some VERY yummy desserts!!!!! Daniel had a huge, colorful popsicle!
Chris had a Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich....yum!
We then headed to Downtown Disney and visited the Lego shop and the largest Disney store in existence I do believe! :) We also wandered around a bit and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and all the sights to see down there!

Up next: Day 5 at Epcot!

Disney: Day 3

2009-06-10T09:02:00.008-05:00

More prepared on Tuesday, I had the extra camera battery charged and ready to go in the diaper bag! :) We left the resort early because we had a breakfast reservation at O'Hana's at 7:45!!!!! We drove to the Polynesian because it seemed like the easiest way to get there and then we could take the monorail to Epcot! Breakfast was YUMMY! This was by far my favorite meal we had while at Disney!

Daniel eating his Mickey waffles!

Kate meeting Lilo!

Mickey Mouse!

Stitch!

Meeting Pluto!

:) Love this picture!!!!

After breakfast, we headed over to Epcot! The boys were so excited to see "the ball" from the monorail! It is quite impressive!
We immediately signed Chris up to join the Kim Possible team and help save the world from evil-doers! :) He was really excited to be able to be a secret agent and couldn't wait until his check-in time in France!
His check-in time wasn't until 11:30 so on our way to France, we stopped by the Coca-Cola Cooling Spot where you can try Coke products from around the world! Some of them the boys liked and some of them they really didn't! :) One was very much a ginger ale taste and both boys were brave to try it but immediately wanted to spit it out! There was a watermelon flavored one that Daniel LOVED!
Also on our way to France, we happened to meet Baloo coming out to greet people! The boys and Grandma got to walk him to his spot!!!!! How cool! :) They then were the first ones in line to get his signature and a picture with him!

Then it was on to save the world! Chris really thought it was neat getting to hold the phone that was the Kimmunicator and Daniel was in awe of how the whole thing worked! Chris followed clues the Kimmunicator gave him all over France and eventually was able to save the world!

While on our special mission in France, we saw Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora....Kate's first princess!!!!! She really wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation and didn't hang around long! Daniel was very shy and didn't want to go see her at all but Chris went on over, got their signatures and posed for a picture with them!

While traveling through the countries we had a great chance to see various people and things that you can only see in Epcot!!!!!

Colonial Fife and Drum Corps....

Greg and Chris in Canada!

Mary Poppins in Britain....

The Beast in France....

Mulan in China...

We all then headed back to the front of the park to ride Spaceship Earth! The boys were very excited to go for a ride in the "ball!"

After riding Spaceship Earth and playing the games, etc. at the end of the ride, we headed over to The Land to eat at the Garden Grill which is a rotating restaurant! The food was good and the characters were a lot of fun!!!!!

After dinner we did a little more wandering around, and then we found a spot to watch the fireworks and they were AMAZING! It was a fantastic day at Epcot...the most exciting part was that we had a whole other day that we could come back and see what we missed or do something again that we really liked! It was great knowing we had a lot of days to spend at the parks!

Up next: Day 4 at Animal Kingdom!!!!!

Disney: Day 2

2009-06-10T08:28:00.002-05:00

Monday was our first full day at the parks! We were so excited to get to Hollywood Studios because we had never spent much time in that park at all! We went there for Fantasmic last year and so this year we were going to get to see shows and go on rides we hadn't had the opportunity to before! :) YAY! Well, when we got to the park I took some pictures of the kids in front of this sign:
As you can imagine, Chris was in HEAVEN knowing that later on he would get to meet some of his Star Wars friends! We planned on going back to Hollywood Studios Friday morning for him to see them and find out what this was all about!

Well, we then went through the gates, etc. and when I pulled my camera out to take some pictures the battery died!!!!! :( And, go figure, I left the extra battery at the resort!!!!! :( Luckily, my father-in-law had his camera and offered to let me use it and so we shared his camera all day! I don't have pictures from him yet but once I get them I will update Disney: Day 2! :)

Basically we met a TON of characters: Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Mr. Incredible, Frozone, Sorcerer Mickey, and Mrs. Incredible to name a few! We walked by the Green Army Men who were playing around in the street! We rode Daniel's new favorite ride, Toy Story Mania, twice! We saw some neat shows and just took the whole park in! We ate lunch at Hollywood and Vine at the PlayHouse Disney lunch so the kids got to eat with JoJo, Goliath, June and Leo which was a BLAST!

Like I said, I will have to update with pictures later on! :) More to come soon!

Disney: Day 1

2009-06-09T22:05:00.004-05:00

I've been debating on how to post pictures and details of our trip to Disney World....and I've decided that day by day may be the best way to go about it! :) Here it goes! This may take me several days to complete as I still have to unpack, do laundry, etc....but it will get posted! :) Not only that but weeding through the over 900 pictures I have on my camera and wishing I had the couple hundred (I don't know an exact count!) of pictures on my father-in-law's camera will take a little time!

BUT here is Disney: Day 1....YAY!

When we arrived on Disney property and checked into our hotel, it was easy to see how excited the kids were! They were checking everything out in the hotel room, claiming areas for their stuff, discussing with their Grandma and Grandad who was sleeping where and how they were going to rotate the boys back and forth, etc.! Once we got settled a little, we decided to head off to the parks! Magic Kingdom was our destination and we could not wait! :)

Waiting outside our resort for the bus to the Magic Kingdom...we took the busses everywhere! :)

Once we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, it was hard to contain our excitement! Daniel was jumping up and down because in the distance he could see the castle!!!!! :) We got there right around 4:45 and they were getting ready to take the flag down at the end of Main Street so we hung out around there and watched the ceremony...it was very neat! We then headed down Main Street towards the castle!
And of course, we stopped to take pictures in front of it! Daniel was in awe the whole time!!!! In fact, every time we walked by the castle he would shout "LOOK! There's a castle!" I love three year old excitement!
While posing in front of the castle, we were just in time to watch the Block Party that was going on! :) There were characters on floats, dancers in the street and lots of great music and fun going on all around us! :) FUN!We then went to the Haunted Mansion (which Daniel refused to ride!) and then on to It's a Small World (which all three kiddos LOVED!). Then it was time for dinner! We went to the Crystal Palace for dinner with Pooh and Friends! It was a yummy buffet with plenty of fun and best of all we got to see our first characters of the trip!

Kate's first encounter with a character...she actually took to Piglet ok! :) As the week went on though she gradually grew more skeptical of the characters....but she oooh'd and aaaah'd at the ones at the Crystal Palace everytime she saw them walk by!

The boys with Piglet!

Meeting Eeyore and Pooh Bear! :) We also met Tigger at this character meal! All four signed the kids autograph books as well!

Right before going to dinner, I went and picked up Kate and Daniel's mouse ears that we had their names put on....Daniel wore his off and on for a couple of days but Kate was very particular about hers....she just plain didn't want to wear it! This is the best picture I have of her wearing her mouse ears!!!!

After dinner, we went outside and found a spot to watch the fireworks display...at night the castle starts turning all kinds of neat colors! We all loved to watch it change!

It was a great first day at Disney!!!!! We rode a couple of rides, had fun taking in Main Street, ate dinner with some pretty cool dudes and at the end of the day we got to celebrate with some fireworks!

Up next....Day 2 at Hollywood Studios! :)

Grandma Bailey

2009-06-09T21:56:00.002-05:00

Our first stop while in Florida was to visit Greg's Grandma Bailey. She is a wonderful lady who the kids just adore!!!!! The kids made little pictures for her and were so excited to see her! :) We were able to eat lunch with her and then go out to the gardens and just visit for a while. This also turned out to be the perfect opportunity for some pictures! :)

Daniel gave her a very nice picture he drew for her!

Chris showing Grandma Bailey how he can read! :)

Kate snuggling with Grandma Bailey!

Four generations....WOW! :) I love this picture....

We loved every minute we got to visit with Grandma Bailey! After we left her, we went on to Orlando and Walt Disney World...once we left there the following Sunday we got to come back and visit with Grandma Bailey again along with all of Greg's cousins on the Bailey side of the family! These were relatives we hadn't seen in YEARS! It was great to get to visit with them and I wish I had the picture of all of us together but Greg's Uncle Tom has it...we will snag it from him and put it up here later on! :) It was fun to introduce that side of the family to our three kiddos and watch them interact with each other! :) I also loved seeing Grandma Bailey...what a special lady!!!!! :)

Home!

2009-06-09T09:51:00.003-05:00

Well, we are home! It was a great trip and I can't wait to share all of the details with you!!!! We took tons of pictures and lots of fun things happened while we were in Florida! I will have to get to work getting all of that up here!!!! But first, I need to unpack and do some laundry!!!! My poor family won't have any clothes to wear if I don't! :) Please keep checking back for updates!!!!

And We're Off!

2009-05-29T09:48:00.003-05:00

Well, we are off to Florida! Please check back soon for pictures, etc. from out trip! We can't wait to go see Grandma Bailey and then head to DisneyWorld! :)

Hope everyone has a great week and we will be back! :)

First Official Day of Summer Vacation!

2009-05-26T18:55:00.002-05:00

So today to me is the first official day of summer vacation! :) We didn't have to get up and rush to school and the babysitters, I didn't have to rush after school to make sure I had all three of my kiddos and then do my shopping and appointments, etc...we woke up around 7...relaxed in pj's until about 9:30....I did some work around the house...ate lunch with the whole family...snuggled my little girl during her afternoon nap....a nice day.

However, throughout the day, tomorrow has become increasingly busy! I have to have Chris to the Primary School by 8, Kate has a doctor's appointment at 10:45, I have a lunch to go to at 11:30 and then I will probably have cleaning, etc. to do in the middle of it all! Amazing...2nd day and the morning is full!

Luckily, the majority of the summer will be to relax, hang out with my friends and family and enjoy being out of school! :) Love this time of year! :)

Have a great one!

These Days....

2009-05-25T22:06:00.002-05:00

So these days since school has let out have been both great and stressful...

They are fantastic because I've gotten to sleep in (at least until 7!), hang out with my kiddos and friends and not worry about having to go to work! It's been great and really nice...I love hanging out and talking, etc.! :) Great times!!!!

It's been stressful though because my kids seem to have fallen apart! :( I just can't seem to get it all going and under control...once one seems to be on the right track, another kiddo decides to fall apart! Either they are getting in trouble, melting down, hurting themselves, falling face first into mud, having bloody noses, whining, hitting, fighting, etc....just out of the realm of how they usually are! I know I have good kids...other people see that about them but I'm just so grrrr'd about how they've been acting lately that it's easy to forget about the good things they do....

Like Daniel telling me how much he loves me, Chris running up and just wanting to snuggle (even though he's six and is easily embarrassed these days!), and Kate and her beautiful smile and her ability to make me smile!

Just a little overwhelming at the moment but this too shall pass, right? :)

Hope you are having a good one! :) I'm going to watch a little tv and then hit the hay!

Sleepy Girl!

2009-05-23T21:49:00.003-05:00

So this morning Kate was going, going, going! I was sitting on the couch relaxing and realized I hadn't heard her for a minute or two and when I got up to see what was going on...this is what I found! :) Her SOUND ASLEEP on the carpet underneath the kitchen table!!!! She slept there for about 20 minutes...I couldn't move her because I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would wake up! Too funny! She has been the one that can be playing one minute and OUT the next minute! Seriously!

Have a great night!

We Interrupt this Countdown...

2009-05-19T19:14:00.002-05:00

To let everyone know that Kate is WALKING!!!! :)

She started several days ago taking a step or two at a time and then over the weekend she started taking 5-6-7 steps at a time...now we are letting go of the couch and taking on the world! :)

She is still unsteady and she is still unsure of herself but when she does go quite a distance she is so proud of herself! I'm going to try and record it tonight and get it posted so everyone can see! So cute!

When I picked her up from the babysitter's today she was down on the ground with all the other kiddos and she looked so big walking around with them! Really made me tear up!

Hope you are having a good one and that the weather where you are is as beautiful as it is here! Love it!

Only 11 To Go!

2009-05-18T16:24:00.004-05:00

The boys picked out our pictures for today's part of the countdown! And by a 2-0 vote here's....MICKEY MOUSE! :)

The big mouse himself was a great character to meet! I only hope that this year Daniel isn't afraid of him and that Kate doesn't hesitate! :) We are going to get to eat breakfast with Mickey at Chef Mickey's and I know the kids are really looking forward to it (and so am I!)!!!!

Have a good one!

12 Days...

2009-05-17T15:51:00.002-05:00

The boys have been talking a lot about going back and seeing the "big ball" as Daniel calls it! :)

Only 12 days to go until our road trip begins! We have one more week of school and then I will start packing...there will be lots of laundry, cleaning, organizing, etc. to do next week so we can pack the car Thursday evening but there will be plenty of time to enjoy our first week of summer vacation as well!

Only 4 1/2 days to go until a nice long summer or relaxing with my family and friends....can't wait! :)

Have a good one!

2 Weeks Until....

2009-05-15T21:34:00.004-05:00

We leave for FLORIDA!!!! :)

We are driving to Florida to see Greg's Grandma and we are all very excited! :) The boys are very excited to see her again and I can't wait for her to meet Kate...I know Kate will give her one of her precious, shy smiles...it will definitely be a fantastic moment!

After visiting with her we are heading to....Disney World! :) We are all very excited about this trip and Greg's parents are going with us which will be a great experience for everyone! :) The boys have grand plans of meeting as many characters as possible...not sure I'm completely up for that but hey...I'm game to try! :) I just hate the lines sometimes!!!!

After a week of riding rides, eating great food, meeting our favorite Disney characters, and all the other fun things Disney has to offer we are going to go back for another visit with Grandma Bailey and other family members that are coming down to see her! It will be great to see them all again...a couple of them we haven't seen in years!

So my blog is now becoming a countdown to Florida...so here we go!

14 DAYS UNTIL FLORIDA!
(this is one of my favorite pictures from our trip last year...Daniel and Grandma Bailey...love it!)

Daniel's Artwork!

2009-05-08T22:04:00.001-05:00

Daniel has really taken to using his Magna Doodle to draw us wonderful pictures! Last night Greg and I were amazed at what he created! :) He used the flower shaped stamp and then drew stems and grass for each one!!!!! AMAZING! We have not a clue where he learned it but he thinks it's great!
Have a great night!

Chris's Kindergarten Program!

2009-05-07T20:59:00.008-05:00

The kindergarten class at the Primary School had their program today! Here are some pictures from it! Each class had a color to make quite an impressive American Flag! :) They sang a lot of patriotic songs and had tons of fun doing it! Enjoy!

Chris and other kindergarteners saluting...

One of the many actions they had to remember for their program!

The American Flag made of kindergarteners! :)

After the whole kindergarten put on their program, Ms. Deeds' class went back to their room to perform for their parents! It was cute! They did many songs and poems that they have learned this year and then they shared books that they have written! So unbelievably sweet!

Ms. Deeds with her kindergarteners.

The three of us in his classroom!

Here is a video of the kindergarten singing Yankee Doodle!

Have a great night!!!! :)

Star Wars and Boys...

2009-05-05T17:07:00.004-05:00

So we were up in Des Moines a couple of weekends ago and so were Greg's brother, my niece and nephew. The three boys took off on a Star Wars adventure! Amazing how little guys can turn anything into a lightsaber and anywhere into a battle field full of clones! My brother-in-law took some great pictures of the action! Enjoy!

Have a good night!

Crazy Hair!

2009-05-05T17:03:00.003-05:00

The other day when Kate woke up this is what her hair looked like! :) I just couldn't resist taking a picture! It took a bath to calm that crazy mane down! I'm sure there will be more days like this in our future! :)

(sticking her tongue out really helps the whole look!) :)

2009-04-30T21:28:00.003-05:00

What a sweet little girl Greg and I have been blessed with! She and her brothers are such joys every day! :)

Two of my new favorite pictures of my kiddos:Have a great night!

Oh what a weekend...

2009-04-26T13:10:00.002-05:00

So Kate's surgery Friday to have tubes put in her ears and have her adenoids taken out went just fine! We got to the hospital at about 6:20 in the morning and were taken back to outpatient surgery at about 7:00...there we waited and talked with a nurse (who was FANTASTIC!!!!), the anesthesiologist, and then the ENT. At around 8:35 they came back to get Kate (who had previously been give some tylenol with some IV drug to keep her calm and relaxed) and whisked her away...leaving Greg and I to sit and wait for her to return. It was a very long wait!

Well around 9:25, the ENT came by to tell us all had gone well but that Kate had had an ear infection in one ear (despite being on antibiotics for 8 days before the surgery) but that all had gone well and she would be back out soon!

Around 9:45 two nurses came back with my sweet little girl who was still very groggy and had an IV (which she hated!!!!)...we quickly got the IV taken out, gave her some milk to drink in her sippy cup and gave her some Jello that the wonderful nurse brought us...

Overall a very quick procedure...we were home by about 10:30...

She's been doing well...cranky here and there and she only took one 20 minute nap yesterday BUT she was in bed around 8 and slept most of the night...

She woke up this morning and currently has developed thrush...fantastic. Poor girl can't catch a break! But thankfully we now have medicine to treat it and hopefully it will clear up soon!

I'm hoping and praying that the tubes and the lack of adenoids help take care of all of her issues with ear infections and breathing problems, etc...

So there you have it! :) It is over and done with and hopefully we are on the full road to recovery! :)

A Beautiful Friday Afternoon...

2009-04-17T17:02:00.002-05:00

I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this afternoon...it is beautiful outside...a nice, breezy 75 degrees with such a full, bright sun...hard to believe that earlier this week is was so COLD! I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that that kind of weather is gone...I'm not a fan of summer (too hot for me!) but I was SICK and TIRED of winter! :)

Well, we are down to one week until Kate's surgery. Greg talked to the hospital today and she can't have anything to eat and drink after midnight Thursday night (which we already knew) BUT what we found out and that I didn't know was that they wouldn't let her go until she was drinking and had had a wet diaper afterwards...which with this girl could take a while! :) But all in all the whole procedure should take less than 30 minutes and we should have her back....I'm a nervous wreck about it but these kinds of things are done everyday and she will be fine...I just keep telling myself that! :)

Chris has started on his allergy shots this past week and is doing really well on them...he has four levels of shots to go through. The first round (the green round) has 3 shots and they are a VERY low dose of what he is allergic to...he got these three out of the way on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...brave man that he is! Next week we get to start on the blue round which consists of 5 shots...he can go through these as quickly as he wants as well so we will see what he is up for and how he reacts to them. The yellow round also has 5 shots but these shots need to be spaced out to be given each week...and the red round is his maintenance round...these will start out at once a week and hopefully if he does well with that then he can move eventually (like MONTHS down the road) to having these every other week and MONTHS after that he might be able to move to every three weeks...but we are looking WAY down the road for that to happen...possibly a couple of years....

BUT the light at the end of the tunnel is that by exposing him like this to his allergens that he will be able to be outside or inside and not have the constant runny nose and no asthma problems! :) We are keeping our fingers crossed for that one!

Daniel is getting a special treat this week...we are headed up to Des Moines tomorrow morning to spend some time with the grandparents and Daniel gets to stay up there until Thursday! By himself!!!!! :) He is very excited about this one on one time with Grandma and Grandad although I have to admit that I'm really going to miss him next week!!!! But I know he is going to have a blast and I know I will talk to him daily...I'm just going to miss his sweet little smile and his cuddles! :) Gotta stock up on them now! :)

Other than all of that things are going....

I wrote in the previous post that things haven't felt quite normal lately and I think that all of this allergy/asthma stuff along with Kate's surgery, etc. just has me out of sorts and out of whack with a lot of things....I know all will settle back down but still....I just don't know how to put it into words because nothing is really wrong....just off....

On a different note there are only 25 school days left...this is sad but happy all at the same time for many different reasons...I can't wait to have the time with my kids where we can stay up late, sleep in late, take our time getting places and just enjoy being around each other without having to be somewhere constantly....a time to relax....can't wait!

Well, hope you are having a great day and we will be back later on!

Normal...

2009-04-15T09:14:00.004-05:00

What is normal and how do you get back to it? Hmmmm...

Been feeling quite out of whack lately and I need to get back to some sort of normalcy...what that was before I'm not really sure but at the moment I feel like everything is sitting on some kind of edge...

This too shall pass...it always does and I always look back and realize I was just being silly...

Here's to hoping that "normal" comes back soon!

Easter pics!!!

2009-04-13T14:20:00.012-05:00

Here are some pictures from our Easter weekend!!!! Enjoy!

The boys had just finished dying eggs and wanted a picture with them!

They dyed eggs after Kate's birthday party and so while they were doing that...Kate was doing this....
Poor girl was SOOOO tired!

The finished dyed eggs...with the faces the boys put on them!

Funny picture of the eggs in the carton! :)

The Easter Bunny put this egg into "egg jail!"

Hunting for Easter goodies!

Check out what I'm chilling on the floor with!

Chocolate rabbit!!!!

Kate's Easter Basket....

Daniel's Easter Basket...

Chris's Easter Basket...

It was a very nice, relaxing day....the kids have lots of yummy candy and fun toys to play with! They've already been out flying their kites and playing with their bubbles and Chris's chocolate bunny has already been eaten! :) What a great day!

Have a good one!

Kate's Birthday Pics...

2009-04-12T23:10:00.010-05:00

Here are some pictures from Kate's birthday! It is still hard to believe that she is ONE!!!! Gosh...a year goes by VERY quickly!

Kate with her new playhouse!

Walking around in my birthday dress!!!! :)

Her birthday cake - we had another one with flowers on the counter as well! Lots of cake to go around!!!!!

All of the kiddos getting ready to eat!

Opening her presents....

The whole time we were singing Happy Birthday she had a very bashful look going on!!!! I think by this point she finally realized that all the fuss was about her! :)

Digging into her cake...she used her fingers at first but I tried using a spoon to give her some of the cake...she only wanted the icing and she discovered that the spoon was a better way to get at it!!!!

The birthday princess covered in icing!!!! :)

It was a great time...there was lots of food and fun to be had by all! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Getting bigger by the day....

2009-04-12T19:09:00.002-05:00

Ok...so I have just been reminded how much the kids have grown....

Chris can now reach the top of the entertainment center....doesn't seem like such a big deal but his brother wanted a toy that was stashed up there and he was able to reach it...without a chair, without jumping, just him reaching up high and grabbing the toy...he then had to prove it again by reaching to the top of the fridge...just another couple of inches and he will be able to get things down from there too!

Seriously...how big they are getting...

Have a great night!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:00:00.001-05:00

I want to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY EASTER! I hope you all have had as great of a day as we have! :)

Now it's off to get ready to work out to work off the food I've eaten this weekend! :)

Have a good one!

Pictures will come soon!

Happy Birthday Kate!!!!!

2009-04-10T23:28:00.007-05:00

So today is your first birthday! A whole year has gone by since my beautiful little girl joined our family!!! I am so happy and thrilled with everything you have accomplished in a year and I can't wait to see what the next year has to bring! Every day I watch you and you simply amaze me...you have a such a bright beautiful smile and you also have quite the opinion about what you want! :) I love watching you figure things out! I love you baby girl!

The day Kate was born....

Three months old....

Six months old....

Nine months old....can finally have a "do!"

Almost a year old...what a big girl you have become! :)Love you little girl!!!! Hope your birthday is fantastic and I can't wait to see what you do in the next year!!!!! Hope you really enjoy your day!!!!

2009-04-09T16:57:00.003-05:00

Daniel fell asleep on the couch one afternoon not that long ago while watching a movie and he fell asleep in the oddest position!!!!! I'm not sure what prompted him to lay like this with his hand up this way but he did and he stayed that way for a VERY long time!!!!!
Have a great night! More to come soon!!!!

Kate and her mess!

2009-04-09T16:54:00.002-05:00

Here is Kate eating these days! :) She makes the biggest mess of anyone I've seen in a long time!!!! Not matter what you give her it is all over her, her clothes, the table and the floor in a matter of seconds!!!! It takes several wet wipes to clean her off and let's not even talk about cleaning up everything around her! But still...it's something she will figure out and will get better at...hopefully soon!!!!

Spring?

2009-04-09T16:30:00.001-05:00

It seems this year that I am questioning a lot if spring is really ever going to make it's appearance....but then I see this in our landscaping out front and I know it has to be close!!!! :)Here's to hoping that spring is TRULY right around the corner!!!!

My Sweetheart!

2009-04-06T22:53:00.000-05:00

Enough said... :)

Have a good night!

Opening Day 2009!!!!

2009-04-06T16:42:00.001-05:00

Today is Opening Day for the Cardinals! :)

Nothing new to really report on this except that I donned my Cardinals shirt (as did Chris!) to cheer our team on to victory!

Pictures and stuff to come later on tonight!

Have a good one!

Update

2009-03-31T19:22:00.003-05:00

So Kate does indeed have allergies...thankfully there are only 2 (and sort of a third!)!

She is very allergic to dogs...bummer considering we have TWO of them. Chris is also allergic to them but not as bad as she appears to be...so we are going to have to find a new home for at least one of our puppies and it breaks my heart....I don't know that there is any other option.

The doctor also tested her for a milk allergy and she does indeed have that allergy as well! :) Thankfully we figured that one out a while ago and she's been on soy milk, etc. for a quite a while!

The sort of third allergy happens to be quite ironic...she has a small allergy to SOY!!!! But thankfully, the doctor said that if she doesn't seem to be affected by it then we should just leave it be and go with it...thank goodness!!!! She likes her soy milk and we would LOVE to keep it that way! :)

So that is what is going on with Kate....

Now I'm off to change to go for my workout...wish me luck because I may need it!!!! Although I'm ready to get my rear in shape!!!! :)

Until next time....

Allergy Testing...

2009-03-31T13:21:00.002-05:00

So today Kate is being tested for allergies...it's been a long time coming and today is the day. She's being tested for everything indoors and some foods...please keep your fingers crossed that all is well and she is allergy free!!!! I'm honestly not holding out hope seeing as how EVERY other person in our family has them but I can dream, can't I? :)

I will update later!

What We've Been Up To! :)

2009-03-29T12:01:00.002-05:00

So what have we been up to lately? Here is a quick recap....

*Kate took her first step the other day! I was home in the afternoon with Chris and she turned and took a step away from the couch! :) She's done it one or two other times and other than that...nothing on the walking front! She's one of those kids though that won't do it until she knows she can do it all the way! :)

*Daniel is pretty much cruising along doing what he always does! He has had a little bit of a three year old attitude lately and it is honestly starting to drive me a little batty! :) But he seems to be slowly snapping out of it!

*Chris has been sick. There really is not much else to say about the poor boy lately...he did get a fantastic report card so we are very proud of that!!!! :) Other than that he has been feeling pretty down in the dumps. He seemed to be doing MUCH better last night...running around and playing, etc. (with only minor fits of coughing) but today seems to be exhausted again...not much of an appetite and a runny nose that is about to do him in apparently! :) I really don't know what is wrong with him...I wouldn't worry about the nose or the coughing (since we have those under control)...it's the lack of energy (except for last night!) and the lack of appetite that really has me worried...

*SNOW....we had quite a bit of snow here yesterday...not what we were looking for at the end of March but it is what it is! Luckily it held off until we got home from Math Contest yesterday (which the kiddos did an amazing job at!!!!!!)....I honestly couldn't tell you exactly how much snow we got since it has been blowing and now it's melting! It was enough to make driving a little hazardous...

*There are only 38 days of school left! :) I can't wait for summer this year...Kate is old enough that I can take her outside and let her play while I watch her brothers ride bikes and play with chalk, etc.!!!! She will also be able to go to the wading pool and do more than lay in her car seat or on a blanket! :) The boys are VERY excited for warm weather and the chance to go play outside! :)

Other than that I think things are pretty much the same around here. We are working hard to keep the house in some sort of order while attempting to keep the kids healthy (although we haven't been so successful at that lately!). I have some new pictures that I will get posted a little later on!

Have a good one!

Sickness...

2009-03-27T18:52:00.002-05:00

So this winter has been hard on all of us...we have been the sickest household. Between Kate and her ear infections/colds and the rest of us with the stomach bug, colds, etc. we have all just been a mess!

Fortunately, Kate will be getting tubes put in and her adenoids out here pretty soon which should take care of most of the issues she's having...

Currently we are fighting some bug with Chris. The doctor thinks that most of the issues he's had this week are related somehow to his asthma...and who am I to argue...I don't know anything medical. This has been a rough week around here...Chris had what seemed like a stomach bug Sunday and Monday morning, went to school Tuesday but wasn't himself when he got home and then he has been home the rest of the week with a fever, coughing, a tight chest (due to the asthma) and various other complaints that have come and gone....

Stressful? Oh yeah. In fact, I am about at my wits end with everything that has to do with being sick...no one likes to be sick and no one likes it when their family members are sick but I think pretty soon I may very well lose it....

But what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger, right? :) This will hopefully all pass soon and be a distant memory. Better yet not a memory at all (and knowing my memory this may be true!)....

Please keep your fingers crossed that we are on the road to no more sickness!!!!!

Until next time....

Chris's Birthday....

2009-03-22T17:24:00.010-05:00

So Chris's birthday party was a week ago! :) It was tons of fun! We had family and friends who joined us in making the day fantastic! Here are some of the highlights of his Star Wars Extravaganza!!!!

Chris got this clone trooper helmet in a princess bag!!!! :) Way too funny Hopie!!!!

At the party, Chris really wanted a pinata....so we found Darth Vader's pinata! Chris was very excited to smack him around! :)

All the yummy candy!

Darth Vader candle...one of the highlights for Chris! :)

Blowing out his candles....

Present time!

THANK YOU to all of our friends and family who made his birthday so special...those that were there and those who couldn't make it!!!! :) We love you all!!!!!

Have a good one!

DisneyWorld Here We Come!!!!

2009-03-22T13:47:00.002-05:00

So it's official!!!! We have booked and paid for our vacation to DisneyWorld! :) Reservations for dinners/lunches are made and the kids are COMPLETELY excited to be going!

We have visited the parks before but this is the first time we will be staying on Disney property and I'm very excited for it to get here!

In other news, Kate is going to have surgery on April 24th to get tubes and remove her adenoids...please keep your fingers crossed that this is what is needed to keep her healthy and to keep those nasty ear infections away!!!!

The kids are all doing well...not much has really changed around here! :)

Hope all is going well out there!

Happy 6th Birthday Christopher! :)

2009-03-13T00:20:00.000-05:00

So today is Chris's 6th birthday...man how time flies! It seems like just yesterday he was a little guy needing me to do many, many things for him...like put on his shoes, zip his coat, etc. Today he is a very self-sufficient little man who does everything for himself. He can read, he can write, he can do everything that not that long ago I was wishing he would and now I'm wishing he couldn't! :)

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY my little man....you are my loving, sweet little guy who I treasure. I love you so much and I hope that you have the best day!!!!

Here are pictures of my guy through the years:

The day after he came home from the hospital!

At one:

At two:

At three:

At four:

At five:

At almost six:

I hope this next year is good to you and that it is everything you want it to be! :) You are a great little guy who is going to grow up to do something great...I can just feel it. You are smart, funny, and caring, even though you can sometimes be impatient! :) Don't worry...you get it from your mom!!!!! I'm so proud of all that you can do and I love you more everyday! Keep up all of the great work and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Love, mom (and dad!!!!) :)

6...

2009-03-12T18:33:00.002-05:00

So today's thing I'm thankful for:

My friends.

I love you all and I am thankful for everything you bring to our lives and some days...everything you put up with! :) You are my rock and I don't know what I would do without you! We can talk about anything and are completely comfortable being who we are...

My friends.

Have a great night!

A little behind...

2009-03-11T16:39:00.002-05:00

We are back from our short trip to St. Louis and I'm a little behind on my "little surprises." Go figure! :) It seems I'm always behind on something! :)

So today's little surprise:

This is what I was told in the van on the way home by my little man Daniel:

"You are a good girl, mommy!"

"Well, thank you Daniel!"

"Mommy? You a good mommy!"

How sweet is that? :)

This is one of his new things...he is constantly saying that people are "good girls and good boys"...including himself! Such a sweet little man!

Hope you have a great day!

The Beast....

2009-03-08T20:56:00.003-05:00

So Kate has ANOTHER ear infection...long story short...she just finished antibiotics (last Sunday) and immediately spiked a fever...she started having problems with breathing, etc. so Greg and I took her to the doctor. Turns out that her ears were as bad as they were before the antibiotic and the breathing problems, etc. were almost to a point of needing to go to the hospital (and somehow this is all linked to her ears). Stressful.

Well, since then Kate has been on oral steroids and her nebulizer around the clock to help with her breathing (thank goodness it's working!) and she's on another antibiotic for her ears...

The problem (well, besides all of that!)?

Well, she has gone from being our sweet, always happy, smiling, funny Kate to this beast (for lack of a better word!)....

She's constantly going from happy to mad in 2 seconds flat....she's not happy up, she's not happy down...she's not eating solid foods or baby food anymore...she only wants bottles. She's not wanting to sleep in her bed (although that has gotten better at night...just not during the day for her naps!) and she has just been very temperamental.

I have to admit that I'm not sure what I'm going to do....

To top it all off....she started pulling at her ears again....I think I'm going to have to call the pediatrician again in the morning...but I'm not sure what she can do. Kate's already on an antibiotic and tylenol. Until we can get her in for her tubes I don't know that there is much we can do.

I just feel horrible for her. Is it rough for Greg and I? Well, yeah...having an almost one year old sit around and yell at you constantly is never fun....but I'm more worried about her. She's obviously not feeling quite up to par and she's tired....poor thing is just tired. I wish I could just make it all go away for her...and if anyone knows of a way to do that...please let me know! :( I just wish she were feeling better....she's been a good sport for the most part but I think she's tired of this nagging pain...and who wouldn't be?

Please keep her in your thoughts! :) Here's to hoping the next time we post things are happier for her! :)

Until next time!

Surprise 4

2009-03-06T21:31:00.003-06:00

This was the scene at our house 2 nights ago...my two little men sleeping in Daniel's bed...I love the fact that they are close enough to do these kinds of things! :) I hope it stays this way forever!

Little Surprise 2 and 3

2009-03-05T14:48:00.004-06:00

So as my sister pointed out, I've already missed a day! I have to admit it was hard yesterday finding a little surprise...but here it is from yesterday! :)

* Friends who are there for you no matter what...you know they are there but in moments of stress, sadness, happiness, etc. you can look at them and know that they care about you and yours. It is one of those moments that you just want to savor forever and never, ever forget....

Today's Little Surprise! :)

*A very cranky little girl who just needs her mom...should that be a surprise? Probably not but when I was the one who made her cranky in the first place (Heaven forbid...I wiped her stuffy little nose!) and THEN she still wanted a good long snuggle it is! :) This is my little girl who doesn't want anything to do with the people who make her mad....until last night late....what a great surprise...the ability to comfort her after I made her upset! :)

Have a great one!

Life...

2009-03-03T12:16:00.002-06:00

Sometimes life will just catch you by surprise...there are good surprises and bad surprises...the sad thing is I think the bad surprises tend to stick with us more (or the rough days)...in an effort to bypass that, I'm going to do a version of the 365 Days of Grace that several of my friends are doing on their blogs. I'm going to try daily to post one small surprise that has happened recently...something that caught me off guard...something that I'm afraid I may forget as the years go by. You know, those little moments that you wish you had on videotape. They could be funny, they could be sweet, they could be very serious (to the kiddos!)...

So here is my small surprise for today:

Daniel running up, giving me a huge hug, and telling me "I love you mommy!" It makes me tear up every time....such a sweetie!

2009-02-28T22:45:00.003-06:00

Tonight as I was getting the boys ready for bed this is what I heard:

Daniel: No Chris! Don't want to!

Chris: Daniel, you need to come here!

Daniel (giggling!): Nope!

Chris: Daniel! I'm using the Force on you!

Greg (from the kitchen): Chris...don't use the Force on your brother!!!!!

Way too funny! Even funnier if you could hear the tones of voices that they were using! Oh what fun! Daniel is becoming more and more of a Star Wars fan everyday...just like his big brother so he thought it was hilarious that Chris would try and use the Force on him! :)

Until next time....

Pics!

2009-02-22T22:11:00.005-06:00

Here are some new pictures! Enjoy!

The boys sharing some down time together!

The last two evenings, Kate has fallen asleep while eating! :) Poor girl!

Eating food like a big girl!Drinking out of a sippy cup like a big girl!

My two little guys snuggling their Uncle John! :)

More pictures coming soon! Have a great night!

Updates....

2009-02-12T18:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I once said I would update monthly on what we've been up to...so much for that, huh? It's been a while since I've written an update on all of us...several months at least! :) So here we go!

Kate is now 10 months old and as wonderful as can be! She has a slight obsession with going after kiddos who are littler than her! :) She is definitely opinionated and she is not afraid to let others know what she thinks about things! :) She is crawling EVERYWHERE!!!!! She has discovered her brothers' room and loves to go in there and mess with whatever she can find! She is truly a joy everyday and her smile really lights up a room!!!!

Daniel has just 3 1/2 months to go of being at a babysitter's during the day. He is going to head off to preschool in the fall and I just have a very hard time imagining this! He still loves to "nuggle (snuggle!)" and he has such a sparkle that you just can't stay mad at! He has recently discovered Chris's Kid Tough camera and LOVES playing with it all the time! He will open a door, stick his arm in the room, snap a quick picture and then close the door quickly and run away! We have plenty of pictures of the insides of closets and rooms where you can't really make anything out but he thinks it's fantastic!!!!

Chris is doing well in school. He has been reading up a storm and passing AR quizzes left and right! He is quickly growing up and I wish I could just make time stand still! He is full of ideas on how to solve things or do things better and loves to help out with his little sister! He has all of the sudden developed quite the opinion about how his hair is cut and what he wears...becoming very grown up!!!! He is VERY excited about Valentine's Day! He has been picking out cards and gifts for all sorts of people...a very giving young man!!!!

Greg and I are doing well too...our jobs are going well...the house is going well (it could probably stand to be cleaner but some days...what can you do?)...everything is just going well! :) We are very blessed...

I hope all is going well with everyone out there and I will post more in a couple of days! Have a great end of your week!!!!

The Many Faces of Kate....

2009-02-10T19:56:00.007-06:00

Her "I really would love to have some of those!" Face. This could also be the "What in the world are you doing?" Face.

Her "I LOVE YOU and I'm Happy" Face.

Her "I'm starting to get upset with you" Face. This is most often used when she's not getting what she wants but isn't seriously upset about anything....yet.

Her "I'm not getting what I would really like" Face. In this case it was some more of her fruit puffs!

Her "I'm really upset and you are DEFINITELY going to hear about it" Face! Again...the puffs weren't there fast enough! :)

All of these faces happened in a 5 minute span of time! :) I tell ya...this girl is going to give us a run for our money!!!!! :)