New camera, ballet and melting a momma's heart

We have a new camera! yay! I have a lot to learn but so far so good! Keeping it VERY FAR from Logan! :)



My friend Katie and I took Olivia and Hannah to see the Nutcracker Ballet yesterday. The dancers were AMAZING!!! Olivia loved the girls but seemed pretty distracted and fidgety, come to find out she had a temp of 101 when we got home. :( but she is good today! It amazes me how fast kids bounce back.


Logan's new best friend. We take him just about everywhere. Along with Rebecca. {sigh}

This is quite possibly my favorite picture of my Logan. A BIG BIG smile that melts me every time. Almost makes me forget the boundary-testing going on these days. Almost. Nope I remember. But God is good, and once a challenging phase is over He helps me forget. I LOVE you bub, and I am SOOOO going to remind you of how you run to your room and slam the door when you get in trouble. :) I'm sure it will be so cute when I am recalling it to your children, but right now? Not so cute. So quit it.

Making ornaments for our tree. Olivia and Logan LOVE to do crafts. We have been purchasing the buckets of holiday craft stickers from my favorite store, that I try to stay away from ,that starts with a T. It is a really fun crafting time and it is a good way to fill our challenging time of the day 5-7pm, however, my vacuum is entirely overworked and starting to rebel. I bet when I change the bag I will find mountains of sticker papers.

By the way, I love how I put all of the effort to make my home look nice when people come over. When in all reality, I take a picture of my kids and you see the mountain of stuff that I never want anyone to see. Oh well, there you have it! what my counter REALLY looks like! A computer bag, lots of papers, bills, looks like a couple Bibles, more papers and I can't even decipher the rest. ugh. :)

Hugs from Indianapolis!

Family photos

My great friend Jamie is a GENIUS with a camera! Seriously. The picture above is one that she took for us recently. I love it! The fact that we are all looking at the camera is a sheer miracle for our family, I assure you! Thanks Jamie! Can't wait to take more pictures soon!

humbled and proud

A trip to the mall today proved to be a very humbling experience as well as an experience that made me such a proud momma. After attempting a trip to the mall at what would be nap-time (on a nap day, if he needs one, you get the idea) my patience being tried to the max, Olivia asked me to take the kids to the play area. To which I immediately said "no way, Logan is too tired" She seemed to be working on her persistence at the moment (the quote "If you don't succeed, try, try again" comes to mind), and I gave in.

Little did I know there was a little girl in the play area who DESPERATELY needed a friend. I won't go into the details, but let me just say it was both heart-wrenching and precious at the same time. I was both humbled at the thought of how big our God is, how small my little world is (I didn't WANT to take the kids to the play area, but He had a bigger plan) and that He has already started tugging at Olivia's heart. I was also very proud of how Olivia handled the situation, we had a big talk in the car on the way home. I was in tears, she was confused, Logan was saying "Sorry momma, I WILL listen" (apparently my tears come more often after he doesn't listen? learning alot about myself in this trip to the mall.) As I tried to explain my tears, tried to explain how wonderful God's plans are for our lives, trying to reassure Logan that he was not in trouble, I was just overtaken with emotion. I was truly humbled and so proud all in one.

Thank you God for giving us opportunities to show your love to others.

Thank you that Olivia is so sensitive to your voice.

Thank you for the honor of raising my children.

Random thoughts... 12/9/09

Yesterday I bought a new wall calendar for our kitchen. It has scenes from Italy (one of my top must-visit places!) It was only $1 from Target. Right now it is almost COMPLETELY empty. But by this time next year that $1 purchase will hold months full of appointments, milestones and reminders. It feels like we are starting fresh, not too busy for 2010 at the moment. At Bible Study Fellowship yesterday our speaker suggested that we really think about how we spend our time. If our days were like rooms in an attic, what would God choose to keep? The things we did for His kingdom. And what would he choose to throw away? Perhaps the busyness we can fill our days with that really just end up stressing us out. I am praying that God would remind us of this as we fill up our new calendar throughout the new year.

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Yesterday during snack time at Bible Study when it was Olivia's turn to share what was going on in her life, she chose to tell about how I shut my finger in the trunk in Grand Rapids. I wish there was some way she could convey the SERIOUS restraint this momma showed (only by the grace of God) while I was in such IMMENSE pain! Thank goodness God was there when I needed him (He always is) because I didn't know at the time that she would think this event was worthy of sharing with her class. :)

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What is up with our weather?

I'm just saying...

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That's it for now... hugs!

Gotta love PBS Kids!

Olivia: "Mom. I have a hypothesis. The smallest part of our bodies is the black part of our eyes."

Me: "wow, where did you learn the word hypothesis?"

Olivia: "Dinosaur Train"

Gotta love PBS Kids!

Great Wolf Lodge

(I apologize for the small camera-phone pictures.)

Great Wolf Lodge was AMAZING!!! It was so much more than I thought it was going to be and the kids loved it! We loved it too! (the parents, ha!)

I am already starting to plan our next trip (not until next year, but so excited already!) :)

This is a picture from their website


Not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but the lobby was BEAUTIFULLY decorated for Christmas! Loved it!

Still going...

*Still using the camera-phone. ugh

Olivia's birthday celebration officially started in October with the trip to the American Girl Doll store.... and it is still going strong almost 2 weeks past her birthday. Here are the events of her big day...

We took Olivia, her cousin Isabel and her friend Maggie to Fun-Time at our gymnastics place. so fun! (the pics at the gym didn't turn out) They all had their American Girl Dolls while they played. so cute!


Then the girls came back for lunch, ice cream pie and playtime!

Then Grandma and Apu came to celebrate! More Ice cream pie!!!! yum!

Today Grandpa and Grandma W's gift arrived. We knew it was coming UPS and I think she opened the front door to check for the package 150 times before noon!

It finally arrived, gifts from her new favorite store, American Girl!

Rebecca in her new outfit.

This weekend we are off to the Great Wolf Lodge for Gigi's gift of the waterpark overnight!

Then Sunday is the FINAL hoorah! Disney on ICE!!!

This has been such a special birthday for a very special girl. Now it is over, just in time for Chirstmas! HA!

Thank you Jill and Susie for her cards, so sweet of you guys! Thank you Maggie for the BEAUTIFUL necklace!, Thank you Isabel for the CUTIE tea set! Thank you Grandma and Apu for the FUN clothes,toys and Disney on Ice, Grandpa and Grandma W for the CUITE outfit for Rebecca!! and Gigi for the waterpark!

From Olivia: Thank you for my presents and cards in the mail. Thank you Grandma Kathy for Rebecca's outfit. and thank you for mommy (I didn't tell her to say this, I promise!) and thank you for bubby and thank you for daddy and grandpa W and for Grandma Kathy and gigi. I'm finished.

It's finally here!!!!

To say we have been WAITING for Olivia's birthday to arrive would be an understatement. We talk about it ALL year! I can't believe she is 5 but at the same time, there are times when she appears older. I love her thought processes and all of the in-depth discussions we have. She is truly our angel and a wonderful gift from God.

As I explained to her (AGAIN) the events that took place 5 years ago today, I couldn't help but think it all went so fast. I heard someone say "The days may go slow, but the years go fast" I couldn't agree more.

Here is Olivia at the beach making a pretend birthday cake... yes we were actively planning in July...

And here is the actual "cake". Actually, Olivia doesn't like cake (she gets that from Uncle Brad, wierd, I know.) so she requested an ice cream dessert. So this ice cream pie has a chocolate cookie crust, her FAVORITE ice cream, mint chocolate chip in the middle and her second favorite, chocolate on top. Topped with peanut butter cups, her ALL TIME FAV!

Tomorrow morning we are off to "Fun time" at the preschool-age gymnastics gym with Maggie and Isabel. She STRICTLY said "NO BOYS, not even Silas" which I think is funny, as he is often in tow with Aunt Kiki :)

In a couple of weeks we head to Great Wolf Lodge with Gigi and then to Disney on Ice with Grandma J. for a "girls night".

Not to mention the American Girl trip that was technically for her birthday a couple months ago. Grandpa and Grandma W. along with us, the mommy and daddy, will be supplying her with ample outfits for Rebecca.

It's funny. I was the mom who said I wouldn't make "too big of a deal" out of my kids' birthdays, but this year it just turned into the well-thought-out, ever-expanding, almost-never-ending event Olivia hoped it would be.

Happy Birthday sis, you are so loved.

Quote of the day from Olivia:

"Mom, will Logan get a present on my birthday too?

I wouldn't want his feelings to get hurt."

We are calling it "kiddie-chic"

Our kitchen table broke the other day. Plus-side? I have had my eye on a new table for awhile. The minus-side? Tommy is out of town, thus I have no way of getting a new table for a few days.

In the mean time, we have the kids' table in the kitchen! We are tossing the idea of an oriental-themed dinner so we can eat while sitting on pillows.... anyway, this puts a new twist on meal-time at our house!


In keeping the "kiddie-chic" theme, Olivia - resident tree decorator, finished her masterpiece last night. Complete with stuffed animals, bracelets, headbands, necklaces and a pink boa. This is by far my most favorie tree ever!

Grand Rapids

We joined Tommy on a business trip to Grand Rapids this past weekend. My momma came along which is always SO much fun!

We took the kids to the Frederik Meier Sculpture Gardens, AMAZING!!!

This is the waterfall in the tropical garden, sooooo nice in the fall....


This is the HUGE horse sculpture, truly breathtaking. I think we read that it was a tribute to Leonardo DaVinci...

Can you see the kids at the bottom? The horse is SOOOOO big!

(the pictures are from my phone, still need to replace the smashed camera....)

Pizza Calzones

The kids loved it! (ok, Olivia ate half of one and then asked for cereal, but at least she didn't completely turn it down). The recipe can be found here on the Kraft website.

Popsicles in November

Logan is not a fan of fruit.

This I can NOT understand, but whatever, each child is different.

Usually if Olivia will eat it, he will at least try it. but nope, not fruit. SOOOO we give him alot of applesauce with fruit, i.e. blueberry applesauce, strawberry applesauce, etc. He also LOVES the Cliff Bar Fruit Twists which are equal to 1 serving of fruit. So anytime we can get him to eat more fruit it is EXCITING for us!

Yesterday Olivia wanted to make homemade popsicles. I used to LOVE doing this as a kid. We looked at Walmart for popsicle molds, but I guess the Christmas cooking making kits sell more than popsicle molds this time of year.

So we made our own, SOOO wish I could post a pic, they are pretty funny looking, but delish. We used plain old orange juice.

You can imagine my delight when Logan discovered that he can't get enough frozen orange juice popsicles! YAY!!!

Never mind that this is the EXACT same fruit that makes him turn up his nose and say "THAT is for OLIVIA, not me!"

Momma outsmarting the kids: 1
Kids turning down good-for-them food: 0

Logan broke our camera...

I mean, why wouldn't I think a 3-year-old boy would enjoy slamming a camera on the table repeatedly? ugh.

So we got rid of it.

The camera, not Logan.

And we will be getting a new one.

Camera, not Logan, we will be keeping him. :)

So in the meantime, I will be posting picture-less posts.

Dressing up and secrets of a momma...

Olivia decided to trick or treat as a ballerina-fairy. This isn't much of a stretch since this is something she would wear anyway... :)


Here is our Superman, getting ready to take the candy-world by storm!

It was a PERFECT evening, sunny and not too cold. Olivia quickly shed her coat because "How can everyone see my beautiful costume if I have my coat on?" Who can argue with that logic?

The kids LOVED getting all of the candy, but this momma quickly tired of all of the fuss around eating it. SOOOOOO I have been secretly throwing away 2 pieces at a time each time they get a piece.... shhhh.... don't tell.

Update to post below

Found the blanket.

Gave to Logan.

Expectation: a huge, happy reaction. :)

Reality: no reaction at all. :/

Go figure. The blanket means more to me than to him. {sigh}

It finally happened....

Last night one of my biggest fears was realized (read a touch of sarcasm and over-dramatization here). We couldn't find Logan's special blanket.

The one he has slept with for 3 1/2 years.

The one that goes EVERYWHERE with us, but must stay in the car.

The one that puts this mama into a panic when it is temporarily missing in the house.

The one that got lost in a park only to be found again because it is so worn that even an animal would pass it up as nesting material.

As with the big things in life, I take the seemingly small things to God - if you combed through my prayer journal over the last couple years you would see things like:

- Prayer for potty training - Check! (both kids)
-Prayer for poopy training (because lets face it, 2 VERY different things) - Check! (both kids)
-Prayer for giving up pacis (I FORCED my kids to take pacis, I was a thumb-sucker) - Check (for Olivia, still waiting on Logan)
-Prayer for giving up Logan's blanket

While this may all seem so trivial in the big scheme of life, I believe that if it has the potential to steal your joy it can be given over to God, who promises to take our cares if we just offer them to him.

So last night in a moment of sheer panic for us (Tommy was so panicked that he said "He will be fine", got on the computer to check his email and catch-up on facebook. Guess we all show panic in different ways, he was CLEARLY in denial), I experienced a calm that can ONLY be from God, since in the past I had not experienced anything related to calm in the lost blanket situations. I found a substitute blanket (that had not worked in the past) cut the tag so that it was "just right", gave it to Logan, explained that his other one was lost, said a quick prayer and left him to fall asleep.

Although he is up a little earlier than normal this morning, and has asked for his old blanket a couple times - WE MADE IT!

Hugs to my blogging buddies!

More fall memories

Tommy's awesome pumpkin carving!!!! Every year they get better!

My little guy.

FALL!!!!

I have always loved this time of year.



In high school it was sectional, regionals, semi-state and state for cross-country. Some very exciting times.



In college it was football games, and bundling up to walk to class (try to picture me trying to walk as fast as Jill) :)



Now it is watching my blessings from heaven play in the leaves...




Logan's shirt says "Boys will be boys" - A perfect fit for him!

Tippy Toes and Trains

This weekend was full of surprises for us!



First Logan got his new bed. It is a bunk-bed set but we are just doing one bed for now. He was so excited, he even slept with the picture of his new bed the night before!



After the bed excitement we discovered our car battery was COMPLETELY dead, at a local restaurant, which although not convenient was such a blessing that we weren't far from home and that AAA could come to us so quickly.



Here are some pictures of our Sunday at home:



Olivia has ALWAYS walked/run on her toes! I love this picture of her on her toes while coloring her body-drawing on the wall.




Afternoon craft time - we traced her body on brown paper and she colored it in! Love how she gets more detailed as she gets older. There was a bow on her outfit and eyebrows!

Logan's new bed: there is a top piece to make it bunk beds, we are thinking when he turns 4? He is just such a climber! I need to get him some dinosaur sheets and comforter, or airplanes, or cars :) but for now he gets a quilt! I am SOOO ready to repaint his room too, I am thinking brown on 3 walls and green on the window wall....

Tommy and the kids put the Geo Trax train together, but I am confused, there aren't any little people in this picture... They had moved on to other activities and daddy was trying out the train.

Some of you know that I have a serious love/hate relationship with my treadmill, but NOW I have a love/hate relationship with the 30 day shred dvd. Kerri (my fab sis-in-law) warned me it was very tough, I HAD NO IDEA! It is comprised of 20 minute workouts that are designed to kick your butt , I mean, get you toned quickly. Lets just say, the first day I only made it half way, Tommy was out of town, and for the safety of the kids I quit early. Didn't want to completely pass out with no one to care for the kids. How is that for an excuse, I mean responsible parenting??? So tonight I will attempt again, and I am going to attempt to do 30 workouts in 35 days. (this was Kerri's goal and I think it is a great one!) Check back to see if I am still alive and toned!

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Prayer Request: Please keep my friends Christie and Adam in your prayers, their baby, Zek, (they will be going to get him in Ethiopia soon) is having complications due to pneumonia. It is so hard for them to be so far from him at this time. Thanks so much blog buddies!

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One more thing: Just for the record, I love change (most of the time) but I am not in favor the new Facebook look! Why do they keep messing with a good thing?

And yes Susie, it is TIME for you to get on facebook. :) Love you!

Cleveland

The kids are I are so thankful to be able to travel with Tommy when he has to travel for work. This trip was to Cleveland for a wine show.
The kids loved running around by the lake, but really wished they were swimming in it. Maybe next time!

Getting to swim when it is cold outside is such fun, I never get tired of it!

Quote of the day:

Logan: "I want to go to Chi-cleveland!"

I believe that is Chicago and Cleveland combined. :)

Tailgating - ND/USC

Some of my favorite pics from our afternoon tailgating at the ND game yesterday...

The kids (and I include Tommy in this group) LOVED running around on the practice field!

Candles

I LOVE FALL! and one of the things I love about fall is candles. For some reason I go on candle hiatus in the summer, I really don't have them on much at all. But the other day I got a new one (nothing fancy, just a Glade one) and it has just perked up my kitchen!

Our home is cozy, so a candle in the kitchen can be smelled throughout the whole house. At times Tommy is fooled and walks in the door thinking I have just made cookies.

I just love to look at them. I love to light them first thing in the morning, right next to my beloved coffee pot.

And I love to put it in the bathroom after the kids have gone to bed.

Isn't it fun when something that costs $4 can just be so fun!

My favorite scent is anything cookie or coffee related in the fall/winter and clean Cotton scents in the spring, what's your favorite scent?

"Bob and Wendy"

God's hugs

I have been thinking alot about Tommy's role and relationship with our kids. God has used it to remind me of the love He has for me. I love to watch the love Tommy has for Olivia and Logan, the look in his eye when he sees them, as if they are the only people in the world at that moment. The HUGE hug sessions he has with them when he comes home from work.

Oh how my heavenly Father loves to hug me! There are days when He just feels so close, and days when He seems a little distant. On the distant days, He is right here, but for some reason I am too busy or distracted to feel Him.

Today I felt Him wrap his BIG arms around me and fill me with warmth. I was sitting outside, on this beautiful sunny day and I looked up and realized there wasn't a cloud in the sky! It was as if I was seeing the beautiful sky for the first time, it was breathtaking!!! Just one of the gifts He has given me today. Just one reminder that He is always there. Just one more thing to thank Him for.

I am so thankful that God gives us just a "glimpse" of his love for us, In the way a father loves his kids.

American Girl Day!

Today was Olivia's big day! American Girl Doll Day! The doll is an early birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa J, and since we were going to be in Chicago anyway they decided she should have it early. She was so excited, to say the least, and by this time even Logan was excited!

My "American Girl Doll" on the day she got hers. (She asked me if I wanted an American Girl Doll too and I said that SHE is my American Girl Doll!)

We bought the doll and had the cashier open it so she could carry it while we shopped for outfits and accessories.

Logan's favorite part was the pumpkin cookies and the escalator. He was such a good sport on Olivia's special day.

Even daddy was excited! (As I write this I just heard her say: "I can't believe I got my doll daddy!" they are trying on the different earrings, Thanks Susie!)

There is just something about Chicago. I have been many times, and I could go a million more. I just haven't seen or done enough there.

It was nice to take Gigi and the kids and just enjoy the city on a beautiful Sunday morning. (Thanks mom for the help with the kids!)