Our Crazy Life

Sneaky

2012-02-10T14:28:00.001-06:00

It's never good when my kids are quiet. It's an immediate red flag that they're up to something. I found Ethan and Riley hiding behind the couch with the Halloween bucket (can you believe we still have Halloween candy?)

Still After that Picture

2012-02-09T14:14:00.000-06:00

I've been trying forever to get a presentable picture of the three of them. I'd really like to put one on my desk at work. I bought the girls really cute headbands and thought I'd try yet again.

Ethan looks strange in half of them, Mia looks strange when Ethan looks decent, and Riley hardly ever looks at the camera. But when she does finally look at the camera, Ethan looks strange. Though, I give Riley an A plus for her smiles.

Painted Nails

2012-02-07T14:10:00.000-06:00

Ethan, Mia, Riley, and Jude painted my nails. Aren't they pretty?

Horsing Around with Dad

2012-02-05T13:58:00.000-06:00

Mike is usually the one who horses around with the kids. They absolutely love it. They all fight over whose turn it is. Some of their favorite games are when he tosses them on the couch, tickles them, and when he flips them upside down.

The only problem with these games is once they start, the kids never want to stop! :)

We Finally Got Some Snow!

2012-02-02T13:34:00.001-06:00

It's weird to think that spring is around the corner. It doesn't even seem like winter has hit yet. We finally got some snow for the kids to play in. Ethan, especially, likes to play out in the snow. Riley likes it for about 20 minutes and she's done. Mia doesn't like it out in the cold, so she usually stays inside.

Mike had to get the snow blower out. It's the first time we've had to use it this year. The last two winters were crazy, so you'll hear no complaining from me!

Photoshop Lightroom

2012-01-30T12:53:00.003-06:00

Mike bought me Photoshop Lightroom for our anniversary. I've been having fun messing around on it, although I'm not very good at it. There are a ton of presets that you can use or you can do it manually. I did the above picture manually. It's awesome taking scratches off the kids' faces. Mia had some hair sticking out, so I got rid of that too. I still have a lot to learn!

HORSES!

2012-01-10T14:46:00.006-06:00

Over Christmas weekend, I took the kids to my aunt and uncles house. (They live in the same town as Mike's parents.) They offered to take the kids on horse rides. I couldn't pass it up!

They have two horses, Gracie and Buck. They're both pretty young--around 2-3 years old. I think Gracie can be a little ornery but Buck is pretty well behaved.

Mia was in absolute heaven. She was not afraid of their massive size at all. She jumped at the chance to ride them. I really wish I would have recorded her. She was literally laughing the entire time.

These two little chickens wanted nothing to do with the horses at first. They watched Mia ride them for quite some time before they got up enough nerve.

Mia rode Gracie for a little while. She liked Buck better, only because of his color. She likes white horses. He was closer to white than Gracie.
Riley was still a little scared at this point. She's holding on for dear life!
Ethan finally got on. He had fun once he was up there. He didn't stay on too long though. I think the size of the horses scared him a little.

I literally had to drag Mia away. She would have stayed there all day! I can't get over how much she loves horses.

Smart Girl

2012-01-06T14:41:00.001-06:00

This is what Riley did the SECOND Mia left for preschool that next day. :)

Opening Birthday Presents

2012-01-05T13:55:00.011-06:00

I'm still late getting these posts up! After Ethan and Mia's party, we opened gifts up at our house. They had a blast doing it. You all were so generous! They got a lot of neat toys.

Mia got a lot of barbie dolls, a princess dress-up set, pajamas, clothes, and a horse. Ethan got some pajamas, two dart guns, a spiderman doll, and clothes. Aunt Amber bought all three of the kids an easel.

She pranced around in her princess costume all night. You could tell Riley was really jealous of it. She kept watching her walk around.

When she went to bed that night, she put all of her barbie dolls and presents on her pillow. She tucked them in with a blanket and then realized there wasn't enough room for her. She then squished herself at the end of her bed. So sweet.

Happy New Years!

2012-01-01T14:50:00.005-06:00

Our New Year's plans fell through at the last minute. Mike and I were going to go to the Vikings-Bears game in Minneapolis with my coworkers and make a weekend out of it. Mike wasn't feeling well, so we stayed home. I was bummed that we didn't get to go, but we had a little party just for us.

Ethan made it up until midnight, but the girls crashed early. They were pretty happy that they got to have "champagne" in real glasses.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T13:56:00.012-06:00

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! I'm pretty late getting this post up. Do you ever feel like you're behind on everything? Oh well. One thing at a time...

We spent Christmas in Chamberlain at Mike's parents' house. It's ridiculously relaxing there. I turn into the laziest person you've ever met. I barely want to move off the couch. I don't have to do any cooking or cleaning and Tom does the kids' baths. It's certainly a nice break.

We opened our presents on Christmas Eve. The kids made away like little bandits. They were so excited to open up their presents. They've been talking about it forever. Ethan got some arts and crafts supplies, a transformers mask, a Mr. Potato Head, Buzz Lightyear, a remote control snow mobile, and Lincoln Logs. Mia got a bunch of little horses, some arts and crafts supplies, a couple of big horses for her Barbie dolls, a carriage for her horse to pull, and Jessie, from Toy Story 3. Riley got some arts and crafts supplies, Barbie, Ken, and Woody from Toy Story 3, some dolls for their dollhouse, and Melissa and Doug kitchen stuff.

The kids had a blast opening up gifts. They had so much fun that they had to open up all of Mark's gifts for him and Andrea's gifts for her. It really is a lot of fun watching them. Ethan kept cheating and opening his gifts out of turn. He didn't quite get that we had to take turns.

Tom and Andrea played a joke on me. I asked for new kitchen counters for Christmas. They wrapped up a piece of laminate that you can glue onto your counters. I opened it and didn't quite know what to say. :)

Christmas this year was definitely different without the snow. It seemed like it was spring-time. I wish we would have had a little bit of snow on the ground, but it was nice not having to worry about what the weather was going to do.

The weather was so nice that everyone went out on the boat (except me) to do some fishing. What did I do? Layed on the couch. I told you I hardly moved. The kids also played outside a bit. They definitely had a good time!

What Weird Presents...

2011-12-24T10:50:00.000-06:00

Mike's boss saw a Jimmy Kimmel episode where parents wrapped up really strange gifts for their children. It was hilarious. You should search for it on YouTube. We decided to do that to our three. Mia got ketchup, Riley got a half-head of lettuce, and Ethan got leftovers from supper (the food he wouldn't eat.) I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. We're definitely going to do this next year. I'm guessing we'll get an even better reaction from them.

Well-Child Check-up

2011-12-23T15:45:00.001-06:00

I took Ethan and Mia to their 4-year well check. I also had to bring Riley, which I knew was going to be a huge mistake, but I didn't have any other option. When one kid starts acting up, they all join in and I knew that this was going to be bad.

It started off okay. We were put in an exam room rather quickly. We had to wait awhile for the doctor to come. He finally came and started their exams. The three of them got naughtier for every minute we were in that room (and we were in there for an hour.) I was trying to have a decent conversation with the doctor, but the kids were acting up horribly.

The girls got into the lipgloss in my purse. Mia took my carmex and squirted the entire tube into her hand. I wasn't paying attention to what she was doing because the doctor was talking to me. All of a sudden, the doctor says, "oooooh, that's not good. That's not good." I look, and Mia had taken the glob of carmex and squished it into her face. Riley was screaming because I wouldn't let her get into my lipgloss. The doctor was just staring at us. I finally let Riley put some lipgloss on because I couldn't hear a word he was saying.

It was finally Mia's turn to be examined. She had a scab on her knee. Ethan noticed it and then tried to pick it off every chance he got. The doctor kept telling him to leave her alone, as was I. I tried to talk a little about Mia, but the kids were fighting and screaming by this time. The doctor finished up in record time and booked it out of the room.

I then had to get them all dressed. I barely got their shoes on and the three of them took off running from the room. I quickly grabbed all of their coats and toys and my purse. By the time I got it all, they were gone. The clinic we go to is huge, so I really had no idea where they went. I found them, though, because they were all screaming at the top of their lungs. They had run into an exam room around the corner.

I caught them all and then tried to herd them out of the door. The three of them took off in separate directions and started screaming again. EVERYONE was staring at me. There were nurses on the phone trying to talk to people and there were my three kids running and screaming down the hall. I was so horribly embarrassed. I just wanted to die! I caught Riley first and picked her up but then started dropping everything in my other arm. I bent over to pick the stuff up and then whacked Riley's head on the wall. She starts crying, "ouie, ouie" while holding her head.

I finally caught the other two and tried to get them into the lobby. They took off running and screaming again. EVERYONE in the lobby was staring at me. I got them out of the clinic door and herded them into a corner. I was so mad and so embarrassed. I told them that they were all in big trouble.

I held on to Ethan's arm while walking out of the door. My other arm had their toys and my purse. Ethan then decided he couldn't use his legs. They became like jello, so I was pretty much dragging him. Mia and Riley took off running in the parking lot. Mia was almost hit by a van. I think the lady heard me screaming and that's why she stopped. My heart pretty much stopped.

Have you ever been so mad and embarrassed that you were about to cry? That was me that day. I put them in time-out for a very long time. They all knew they were in big trouble because they didn't challenge me. What made it even worse is that I know their doctor's nurse. She used to work on pediatrics and she would float to the NICU or I would float to peds and see her.

I really can't tell you much about what the doctor said. Ethan is in the 50th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. Mia is in the 5th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight. They didn't get their kindergarten shots since they won't be going this next year. I should have requested them, though! If I would have known how they were going to behave...

Happy Birthday Princess

2011-12-22T21:24:00.000-06:00

I think part of the fun and surprise of having a baby is not finding out whether it's a boy or a girl. I figured I'd buy two boy outfits and two girl outfits to take them home in, and I'd return what I didn't need. I was almost positive that Baby A was a boy (Ethan.) I first thought Baby B was also a boy but towards the end of my pregnancy, I changed my mind. I couldn't have been more happy when Mia was born. Could you imagine having twin boys?
Mia has always been the easier of the two. She always slept well and rarely cried. She was very easy going as a baby. She didn't require as much attention as her brother. I think God did that on purpose. I think he knew I couldn't handle two Ethan's. God gave me a little princess!
She's not as innocent as she looks. In fact, she's my sneaky one. She's the one that takes candy, hides under Ethan's bed, and devours it. She also likes to take boxes of Band-Aids under his bed and likes to unwrap them all. If I'm putting make-up on, she'll sneak behind me when I'm not looking and snatch my mascara. Mike is always asking me if I've taken x, y, and z. I always tell him to ask Mia. 9 times out of 10, she has the item he's looking for. She'll purposely instigate things with her siblings. She'll take a toy they are playing with and run as fast as she can. She'll take a piece of their candy and book-it out of the room. She'll follow me into the bathroom and before the other two get there, she'll lock the door. You can imagine how well that goes over. She purposely put gum in Grandpa Tom's hair. I had to cut it out while trying not to laugh.
She also loves doing arts and crafts. Mia could paint all day if I'd let her. She is so excited to show me her preschool artwork. She brings home some funny stuff! She always colors on herself. I can't tell you how many colors her face has been. Mia loves to swing and jump on the trampoline. Mia always races to her favorite swing before the other two can get it.
Mia loves to cuddle. She'd sit on my lap all day if she had the choice. She says "I love you" so cute. It blends all together into one word. She tells me I'm pretty every day. She loves to be tickled. She comes up to me and says, "tickle me, Mommy" and runs away. I chase her down and she giggles and giggles. She called herself "Maya" for the longest time. The teacher had to ask me how to pronounce her name because she thought she was saying her name wrong all year.

She is absolutely in love with horses. I wish we could get one for her. She would be in heaven. She is giddy whenever she sees one. My aunt and uncle let her ride their horses over Christmas. I've never seen her more excited. She giggled the entire time. She isn't afraid of them at all. Any time she asks for a toy or a movie, it involves horses. She likes the white ones.
She loves playing babies and house. She is usually the baby and she makes Riley be the mom. She has the annoying baby cry down pat. Riley comes running. She is getting into Barbie Dolls and I love playing with her. Our Barbies always have to go on horse rides.
She is such a girly-girl. Everything she wears is pink or purple and has butterflies or hearts on it. She would like to wear skirts every day. For her birthday, she wore her flower girl dress. She couldn't have looked cuter. She is finally letting me fix her hair. She usually likes it in a braid. She always tells me monsters are going to get her when she sleeps. She didn't want to go to bed one night and told me there was a bee in her room that was going to bite her leg.
I'm so happy that God blessed us with Mia. I couldn't imagine her any other way. She's a joy to have! I love you very much, sweetie.

My Spiderman

2011-12-21T19:42:00.001-06:00

Happy 4th Birthday to my Spiderman! I still remember the day I found out I was pregnant. I was back home at my parents' house for Kelly's high school graduation. I took a test and I couldn't believe my eyes. I called Mike at 8am central time. Phoenix was an hour earlier, so it was 7am there. He was still sleeping (no surprise there.) I remember him groggily answering the phone. I told him that he was going to be a Daddy. His first reply was, "what?" I repeated it and then he asked, "are you sure?" I think it took a little while to sink in for him!

Ethan is a goofball. He is always making silly faces and loves to have a good time. He is very energetic and doesn't stop from the moment he wakes up until he goes to bed. He is 100% boy but his sisters rub off on him too. He has a softer side and will play babies and house with them. He occasionally likes to put on Mia's clothes. He'll probably kill me one day for saying that. He always asks to have his fingernails painted when I'm doing mine. He always picks the color green.

He is very very strong-willed. He is very particular about the way he likes things. I have to make his peanut butter toast just right or he won't eat it. He is also picky about the color of plate his food goes on and the color of glass he uses. He picks out all of his own clothes, including socks and underwear.
Ethan is a momma's boy. He is only cuddly when he's tired or sick and he'll say to me, "hold me, mommy, hold me." I drop whatever I'm doing and snuggle him. He always wants me to lay by him until he falls asleep. He never lets me get too far away and always seems to be in the same room as me.
Some of his favorite things to do is to ride his bike. He's really fast at it and whips around the yard. He loves playing hide and seek and always cheats by peeking. He likes to read books but only at night when he's tired. One of his favorite books is about muscles, bones, and body parts. It's kind of a strange book for a little boy to like, but he requests it every night.
Ethan has turned into an extremely picky eater. He likes to tell me that I make "ucky suppers." He does like to eat peanut butter, cinnamon rolls, donuts, pancakes with no syrup, anything sweet, green beans, bananas, yogurt, steak, juice, oatmeal, cereal, and cream of wheat.

He absolutely loves to do arts and crafts. He asks every day if he can paint. I'd let him do it too if it wasn't so messy. He's getting really good at coloring and staying in the lines. He is so proud of his artwork he brings home from preschool. He won't come into the house until he has emptied his book bag and has shown me everything he has made.
He continues to be naked 99% of the time. The only time he has clothes on is for preschool and daycare. The second he gets in the house, he strips. I can't tell you how many times I walk around my house and find random articles of clothing and always wonder if they're clean or not.
He is a lover of Spiderman. He likes to copy his poses. He likes to crouch like Spiderman and shoot his webs. It took me forever to get his Spiderman Halloween costume packed away. He always asks to watch, "Peter Parker black Spiderman." I have no idea where he heard that from or what it is. He gets so mad when I don't get him the perfect, "Peter Parker black Spiderman" show to watch.
I love my little boy and feel blessed to be his mom. The first few years were kind of hard, but I wouldn't trade it. I hope he eases up on me a bit though. :)

Birthday Party Time

2011-12-20T16:35:00.015-06:00

We had Ethan and Mia's birthday party at the Xcite Family Fun Center. They have bouncy houses and tons of arcade games. The kids did really well with the bouncy houses. I thought Mia would be too scared to go down the slides, but she did it!

We ordered some pizza while we were there. I wasn't expecting too much but it was pretty decent--at least for a child play center. The best part, by far, was leaving the mess! We'll definitely go back.

The kids had a blast. We were there for three hours which we thought was quite a bit of time. It was fair to say that the adults wanted to leave way sooner than the kids!

This bouncy house was an obstacle course. Ethan had me go through it a few times with him. It was quite a bit of work! I was out of breath by the time I got through it.

I told the bakery at Hy-Vee that I had a set of twins turning 4. I told her one liked Spider-Man and one liked horses. I think she was expecting me to get two different cakes. I asked her to combine it onto one cake. She gave me the funniest look. I was slightly nervous to see what it was going to look like, but I think it turned out cute.

Here's another attempt at a family picture. Maybe I should just give up. :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Ethan and Mia!

2011-12-19T10:15:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to my favorite set of twins! They're 4. Wow! It seems like just yesterday that they were babies. They're growing up so fast and becoming such cute little people.

I think most people know that Mike and I needed help getting pregnant. I had a feeling when we started trying for a baby that we were going to have problems. We went to a fertility specialist when we were living in Phoenix.

They did so many tests and lab draws on me. The only thing they could find was mild endometriosis for me. Mike had a minor problem as well. I think both of us being "sub-fertile" is why we were having a hard time getting pregnant.

I got pregnant on our third intra-uterine insemination. (It's a good thing too because our next step would have been IVF.) I was using injectable fertility drugs along with clomid. There's always a chance for multiples when you use fertility drugs. The cycle I got pregnant, I could have been pregnant with 4 or 5 babies. Needless to say, I was really worried when I got a positive pregnancy test. I kept telling myself that God wouldn't give me quads or quints. He just wouldn't!

The fertility clinic was worried as well because my hcg levels were through the roof. They were worried it was high order multiples as well. They had me come in right away for an ultrasound. I was SO extremely nervous when I went in for that ultrasound. Here are what twins look like at 4weeks 4 days...

They are just teeny tiny black dots. I was so relieved when I saw it was only twins. We could see their hearts beating at that time. It was amazing!

Here they are close up. It's hard to believe that they start that small. These are the two that have been rocking our world for the last 4 years.

Christmas Program Video

2011-12-16T09:51:00.001-06:00

Here's a video from one of the songs they sang. Enjoy!

Christmas Program

2011-12-16T09:09:00.008-06:00

Ethan and Mia had their Christmas program last week. It was beyond cute. They sang 4 different songs. Ethan and Mia participated pretty well with the songs. Ethan had a rough morning and cried all the way to school. (I made his peanut butter toast wrong.) His teacher said he was very shy during the rehearsal but he did really well during the program.

Riley was so excited to be able to go to preschool. We sat in the very front row and she was so good during the program. We didn't hear one peep from her.

I find it funny that they always stick Mia next to her "boyfriend", Brody. During one of the songs, they gave each other a hug.

We had cookies and juice after the program. The kids were in heaven because it was only 10:30am. Nothing like a nice little sugar rush!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

2011-12-15T11:26:00.003-06:00

I can't believe Christmas is around the corner. Where does the time go? I still have Christmas shopping to do. I work better under pressure. I will probably do a lot of it this weekend...hopefully.

We are having Ethan and Mia's birthday party on Sunday. I can't believe they are turning four. Unbelievable! I've been looking forward to age four. Everyone tells me it's the magic number where they stop acting like possessed demons. I'm still a little sad to see them getting older. It's going way too fast but yet I'm looking forward to enjoying them even more.

We just got back from Ethan and Mia's Christmas program. It was so cute. They did such a good job. I'll try and post some videos and pictures of it. The last video took me MANY hours to post. Let's just say I wanted to smash this laptop. Seriously, some posts with pictures can take hours. I love posting but sometimes I can't free up the time. I bet if I had an Apple computer, it would take me much less time. :) There's a great big hint for Mike.

I am trying to get over a nasty cold. I tell you, this clinic is going to kill me. Last month, I had strep throat and now this sinus stuff. The nurse practitioner told me it will take a year for my immune system to catch up. Wow. I did not want to hear that. I wonder what I'm going to catch in January...

I Really Sound Like That?

2011-12-12T13:42:00.004-06:00

Ethan has started imitating us. I think it's really funny when he imitates Mike. I, however, don't think I sound like that. :)

In case you can't understand him, he's saying, "1, 2, 3, 9, go to your room." I had just gotten after Mia.

5x7 Folded Card

2011-12-05T16:58:00.001-06:00

Peppermint Bliss Christmas Card

Design photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Weekend!

2011-12-02T14:02:00.002-06:00

I've been working straight days for almost two months. It has been awesome! I can't believe how much less tired I am. I knew that nights were taking a toll on me, but I didn't realize just how bad it was! I'm liking the clinic. It's a lot different, but I'm catching on. I've met so many nice people and some weird ones here and there. The two providers are very nice and patient. I'm learning tons!

I don't like having to deal with insurance companies, but that comes with the job, so I had better get used to it! The nurses have to get pre-authorizations for MRI's, certain medications etc. It's beyond frustrating having to deal with them. It can take days and many hours on the phone, from start to finish and then they'll deny it for some little reason, so you have to start over. I can't tell you how much I hate insurance companies. Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the worst. I'm just saying.

Having weekends off has been life changing. It's so nice to have a normal schedule. We can now plan stuff in advance and I know I'll have it off. It's the same way with holidays. I don't think I could ever go back to working nights, weekends, and holidays! Right now, I work all day Tuesdays, half day Wednesdays, and half day Thursdays. I'd really like to do two shifts and work all day, but I don't have to work Fridays, so I'm not complaining! :)

The kids are adjusting well to my new schedule. They like going to Elizabeth's house, but they are ready to get home too. It's the best of both worlds. Riley has gotten even more clingy to me when I'm home (I didn't think that was possible.) I hope that lessens with time. Ethan and Mia have done really well with the transition.

Mike and I are still trying to perfect our routine. It gets kind of complicated figuring out who is picking the kids up and with what vehicle since all of the car seats are in the van. The girls are getting some booster seats for Christmas, so that'll help! We've been taking all the car seats out of the van and leaving them at Elizabeth's house. That is getting really old really fast!

I hope you all have a good weekend! We are going to the Sertoma Butterfly house on Saturday. Mike wants to look at coral and the kids and I are going to check out the butterflies.

Cute Little Story

2011-11-28T14:20:00.002-06:00

We spent the day at Mark's house a few weeks ago. Mike's parents and his uncle were there too. We were all downstairs watching football. Mike and I were sitting by each other on the couch bantering back and forth. Ethan kept saying something to us but I couldn't quite understand what he was saying. It then dawned on me that he was telling us to, "shut-up."

I asked him where he learned the word, "shut-up." He pointed at me. I said, "me? Who do I tell to shut-up?" He then pointed at Mike. Everyone started laughing, but I was slightly embarrassed. I really need to watch what I say!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-28T13:47:00.010-06:00

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We stayed at home and my entire family came--all 21 of them. It was chaotic, of course, but also fun. Sarah hosted the actual Thanksgiving dinner and it was very good!

We did some Black Friday shopping but nothing crazy. We were at the mall about 2 pm. None of that midnight stuff for us! It was fun being able to hang out with my sisters. It's nice that I have four automatic best friends. You can't ask for anything better than that!

We ended the weekend with a case of stomach flu and strep throat. My brother, Billy, got sick, who in turn gave it to my older sister, Amber, and my niece, Janai. My other brother, Nathan, came down with strep. I'm crossing my fingers none of that gets to us.

Eric and Kelly. He surprised her and came for Thanksgiving.

They're making "Grandpa's Rice." The recipe was passed down from my Grandpa Hank's family. It has saffron and tons of cheese in it. Very good!

The turducken--a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey. Mike and Steve wanted to give it a try. It was pretty good. It was completely deboned, so it was all meat. It was a little weird because you didn't know exactly what you were eating.

Matt and Jenna, the newlyweds.

Jenna played dress-up with the girls. She put old flower girl dresses on them.

Preschool Papers

2011-11-28T13:25:00.005-06:00

I think Ethan has been hanging around his sisters too much!

Sorry, kiddo, we're not getting a yellow duck! :)

Mia's first attempt at her name. It's pretty good!

Sorry

2011-11-14T15:11:00.002-06:00

I want to say sorry to Mike's parents! They took the kids Thursday morning so I wouldn't have to miss work. (Our daycare wouldn't take them because they had been sick.) They hadn't thrown-up for over 24 hours, so I thought we were in the clear. Mike's parents came down with the stomach flu this weekend. SORRY!

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

2011-11-14T14:59:00.003-06:00

Me: "Riley, who got into my makeup?

Riley: "Ummmmm.......Ummmmmmm.......I don't know," as she shrugs her shoulders.

Me: "Who got into my makeup?"

Riley: "Ummmmm.......Ummmmmmm.......Mia."

Me: "Mia got into my makeup?"

Riley: Shakes her head yes.

Me: "So you didn't get into my makeup?

Riley: Shakes her head no.

The funny part is that I got both of the girls in trouble for getting into my makeup. Riley has never lied to me, so I believed her after she told me Mia had gotten into it as well. After I put them in time-out, Ethan came running over to me and said, "Mia not do it. Riley do it. Riley do it." Ooops. Sorry about that Mia!

More Sickness, Really?

2011-11-14T14:53:00.002-06:00

Instead of the stomach flu, I was blessed with strep throat on Friday. Grrr. I haven't had strep throat since I was a little kid. Seriously, it's been 20 years. And it is as nasty as I remember! I'm finally starting to feel better today. My throat doesn't hurt as much, but I'm still feeling dizzy and weak. I'm kind of glad I got sick over the weekend so Mike could help with the kids. I probably slept 11 hours each night and took 4 hours worth of naps during the day. And I was still tired!

I'm glad I have today off from work. Speaking of work, I'm pretty sure I picked up this nastiness at the clinic. The nurses do all the throat swabs. I wear gloves and sanitize my hands constantly, but I obviously need to do it more. Otherwise, it's going to be a LONG winter. I can't be getting sick with everything that walks in the door!

Puke, Puke, and More Puke

2011-11-11T19:23:00.002-06:00

The kids are getting over the stomach flu. Mike caught it first. Riley got it next. (She started getting sick at daycare. I'm sure Elizabeth was just thrilled about that!) And Mia got it last. The girls got over it rather quickly, thank God! Ethan and I actually escaped the flu bug this time. I hope this isn't a prediction of how this winter is going to go!

Photography Session--Take 1

2011-11-06T13:58:00.014-06:00

Never in a million, trillion, gazillion years would I ever want to be a kid photographer. :) I almost stroked out trying to get a picture of the three of them. I finally brought out a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and bribed them. Enjoy some of the funnier pictures!

My first group picture I tried. They were all fighting because they were touching each other.

This could have been a cute picture! The girls look cute!

Hello people...look at me!

Ethan and his funny faces. Riley looks possessed.

Ethan got the girls to do it too.

I kept telling Ethan to look normal. :)

Yep, the clip needs to stay in.

She heard an airplane. She spent the next 5 minutes looking for it.

I did get some really cute pictures. I'll post them soon. I'm going to try and do another session this week. Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-03T14:34:00.007-05:00

The kids were really into Halloween this year! They talked for weeks about wearing their costumes, going trick-or-treating, and seeing pumpkins. I had to work at the clinic that day, so Mike's parents were nice enough to watch the kids that day.

I got off work, we ate supper, and we started trick-or-treating. We couldn't catch Ethan half the time. He was half-way down the street by the time the girls got their candy. He would have trick-or-treated the entire night if I had let him.

He wanted to be the black Spiderman this time.

My Princess and my Horse! They look adorable!

The kids each got a bucket-full of candy. Ethan likes to hide his bucket from his sisters. He reminds me of me when I was little. I would hide mine up in my closet so my sisters wouldn't steal my candy. Ethan has hid his in my end table and his second spot is in the bathroom vanity. It makes me laugh!

Cute Things They Say

2011-11-03T14:23:00.002-05:00

The twins are getting hard to get to sleep at night. They always want me to lay in there with them until they fall asleep. They always say, "lay by me" in the softest, cutest voice ever. Most days, I do it, but some days, I just don't feel like it!

I was having one of those nights that I didn't feel like laying in there. Mia kept coming up with excuses for me to stay. She said, "there's a bee in my room. It's going to bite my leg." I started laughing and told her there was no bee in there. She then said, "there's a monster in my room." I asked her where the monster was, and she pointed to a shadow on the wall. :) Kids and their creative minds!

Halloween Party

2011-11-03T14:16:00.002-05:00

We went to a Halloween party last weekend. Mike and I decided to dress up at the last minute. If you can't tell, we're Fred and Wilma Flinstone. Mia was a horse, Ethan was Spiderman, and Riley was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

The kids love getting dressed up! They've been patiently waiting to wear their costumes for weeks now. A good time was had by all!

Funny Artwork

2011-10-25T15:05:00.005-05:00

One of my favorite things about the kids attending preschool is the artwork. They bring home something at least a couple times a week. My favorites are when they have to describe whatever they made. Mia, especially, comes up with some whacky stuff! Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

2011-10-21T16:41:00.002-05:00

It's the weekend! Yey! I LOVE having weekends and nights off. I'm really loving the normal day job! I've worked a few more shifts at the clinic. It is so different than the NICU, but I think I'll really like it. We've been doing a ton of flu shots (I gave my first one yesterday) and also do allergy shots. Yesterday, we had a pap smear to set up for, some kids with cough and congestion, pink eye, a pneumonia. It is pretty interesting as it is always changing.

The part that is going to be frustrating is all of the computer charting and learning my way around the software. It takes a second to give a flu shot and it takes about 5 minutes to chart it in all of the right places. I really like the other two nurses. One is my age and she has a couple of little kids.

I hope you all have a good weekend! My sister and her family are coming over to grill out tonight. My cousin's little girl is having a birthday party Sunday, so we're going to that. The kids are really excited to go. They love birthdays and keep asking when theirs are. I can't believe they'll be 4 in a couple of months. I should start figuring out what we're going to do!

Corn Maze

2011-10-21T15:59:00.011-05:00

We took the kids to a corn maze last weekend. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! Ethan took the lead the majority of the way through. I had to keep yelling his name because he'd get so far ahead of us. The girls kept tripping over corn stalks, so they wanted to be carried the entire way. That wasn't so much fun!

The maze was in the shape of Yogi the Bear. They had questions hidden within the maze that you could answer for a prize. We found all of the questions, but we only got half right!

Uncle Mark also came with us. We hadn't seen him for awhile, so the kids were super excited when they heard he was coming.

They had this thing called a jumping pillow. It's basically like a trampoline. It was fun! Mike, Mark, and I all jumped on it. Mike kept going up to the kids and bouncing them into the air. Ethan loved it--the girls, not so much!

The girls clung to me so Mike wouldn't bounce them. Thanks Mike! :)

Playdate With Jude

2011-10-19T15:14:00.003-05:00

Once a week, Jude comes over to play. My sister, Sarah, is a senior in college and I remember how hard it was trying to study. I take her for the day, and that way, Sarah gets some studying done. Jude is really good when she comes over. She and Riley are connected at the hip. They get along really well together. Jude and Mia tend to fight a little more. It makes for an interesting day.

I don't remember what they were doing, but they were trying to show off for me.

You'll notice Jude is wearing Mia's dress. That didn't go over so well. :) When Jude first came over, she spotted Mia's pink skirt and wanted it on. Sarah put it on her and came out of the bathroom. Mia saw Sarah (she loves Sarah) and was smiling and waving. She then spotted Jude in her skirt and her smile quickly turned to a glare. It was hilarious. She was not happy. Then, Jude spotted Mia's dress hanging up and wanted to wear it (Jude still had the skirt on underneath.) Mia threw a fit over that. Jude wouldn't take it off when it was time to go so she wore it home. Mia, again, was pretty mad.

When Sarah brought her over today, she asked Jude what she was going to do at my house. Jude replied, "wear Mia's clothes." :)

We baked some sugar cookies. They patiently waited for them to get done.

Oops!

2011-10-18T15:50:00.002-05:00

Here are Mike's $200 sunglasses or whats left of them. They got stuck underneath the seat in the van. We don't know which one did it, but my guess is the one wearing the sunglasses. We're keeping track of all the stuff they break of ours. When they get their first jobs, we're handing them a bill! :)

Ethan's Wish

2011-10-18T15:42:00.003-05:00

Dream on little buddy...dream on. :)

Shadow Shift

2011-10-13T16:35:00.002-05:00

I shadowed at the clinic I'm going to be working at today. When I think of clinic nurses, I admit that I thought their job was easy. It seemed that all they did was vital signs. Oh my goodness, it couldn't be farther than the truth. You would not believe how many phone calls and the amount of paper work they have to do. They have to do pre-authorizations for insurance companies (this is a very hated task) and call pharmacies for prescriptions. They have to return all phone calls that come in from patients but can't leave any information on answering machines, so there's a lot of phone tag that goes on. This is in between checking patients in and collecting lab tests, doing x-rays, and helping with procedures.

It's a very small clinic. There's one doctor and one nurse practitioner that work there. There are a total of three nurses, which includes me. :) One of the nurses came from the ER, one came from adult rehab, and there's me, with NICU experience. The ER nurse just started in August and the rehab nurse two weeks ago, so it's kind of like the blind leading the blinder. I'd be lying to say I wasn't a little nervous. I've floated to post-partum, but that's the extent of my adult experience.

I really like the other two nurses, which is good because we'll be working a lot together. I like the feeling of a small unit. I think we will get to know each other really well. The NICU has 120 nurses, so you can imagine the difference between the two.

The doctor and nurse practitioner are very patient which is awesome because there were TONS of questions asked. They didn't get mad or frustrated at being bugged all day.

I'm so excited for this job! Both of the other nurses love it there. They couldn't say enough good things about the job. The only downside for them is figuring out the computer charting and ordering. But, that will come with time for all of us!

I'm going to shadow a couple days next week and then start the formal training. I think I'll get a couple of weeks of orientation and then I'll be on my own. Wish me luck!

Last Weekend Shift!

2011-10-10T16:17:00.002-05:00

I worked my last night shift! I am so excited to be done with nights. Did you know that people who work nights cut 7 years off their lives? That's how hard it is on your body.

I can't believe I'm going to have a normal schedule. I still am not entirely sure what my schedule is going to be, but I know there will be no weekends, nights, or holidays! Yey! It's going to make such a difference. Mike is very happy that he will no longer have to do "daddy daycare" on the weekends. The normalcy will be worth the pay cut!

I will definitely miss my coworkers and the babies in the NICU. There's nothing like seeing a 1 pound baby that fits in the palm of your hand. You will not believe the amazing things that go on in the NICU! I'm going to try and stay PRN, which means I'll pick up a shift here and there if I want to. This should help my baby fever stay away! :)

Parent-Teacher Conferences

2011-10-06T15:39:00.002-05:00

We had Ethan and Mia's conferences on Tuesday. They went really well! We met with Mia's teacher, Julie, first. Here are some things that she said about Mia:
-her speech has come a long way
-she's talking more and more every day and it's clearer
-she's very sweet
-she's very quiet in class
-her two friends in class are Katelynn and Brody
-she tends to daydream in class but she's easy to get back on track
-the speech therapist said that she's starting to speak in 3-4 word sentences (she does this at home.) Do you want to know the sentence the speech therapist had recorded down? "Ethan hit me." Mike and I had a good laugh from that.
-she still needs a bit of help counting. (We weren't at all surprised by that.) She starts counting like this: 1, 2, 9, 8, etc

Ethan was next. Here are some things that his teacher, Allison, said about Ethan:
-he has a sweet disposition
-he is quiet but is talking more and more
-he is sometimes hard to understand
-he is starting to answer questions in class
-there are only 5 kids in his class and they all play together really well
-he also needs a bit of help counting. (Again, we weren't surprised by that.) He counts like this: 1, 2, 9, 6 etc. She did, however, tell us that she'll get him back on track by saying 3, and he'll finish 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. He's holding out on us! We had no idea he could do that.
-he is starting to talk in 3-4 word sentences in school (he does this at home)

Both teachers were really impressed at how far they've come. We couldn't be prouder!

Matt and Jenna's Reception

2011-10-04T14:36:00.017-05:00

I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of Matt and Jenna's reception. I wish I could have gotten some more pictures. I didn't seem to take as many as I usually do.

The kids absolutely loved the cupcakes. No surprise there!

Nathan and Riley. They love my little brother!

My old man. His speech at the reception was so funny. I wish we would have recorded it.

I had to include this picture. She's probably going to kill me, but it's worth it.

My little sister, Kelly, and her boyfriend, Eric.

Riley dancing with a random person. She seriously went from random person to random person that night. I had to keep asking Jenna who had my kid! She is so outgoing.

Mia has a little crush on Eric. It's pretty cute. She asks about him all of the time.

Noah+Nathan+sugar=CRAZY Ethan

My older sister, Amber, with her hubby, Shayne. They are expecting their first baby in March!

Stealing all of the splenda packets. They would bring them to my cousins, who would open them for them, and then they'd dump them on the floor.

Matt and Jenna doing the dance to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Jenna has it memorized and she somehow conned Matt into doing it with her. :)

Riley with splenda.

"The Krause Girls" with my Aunt Toni.

My little brother, Nathan, at the end of the night. He was sound asleep!

Some More Randomness

2011-10-04T14:20:00.006-05:00

The kids are starting to show-off for us. One of their favorite things to do is flip upside down on the couch.

I came out to find the girls laying side-by-side eating fruit snacks. It melted my heart! They do sometimes like each other :)

Mike bought yet another fish tank. (We now have 5. Don't get me started.) We were transporting it home and heard a big clunk. It turns out that clunk was Ethan's head hitting the glass while he was sleeping.

Congratulations Matt and Jenna!

2011-09-26T15:58:00.011-05:00

It's hard to believe that my baby sister was married this weekend! We left for Minneapolis on Friday. The drive there was pretty uneventful--thank you, God! We got checked into our hotel and took the kids swimming. They loved every second of it. We brought them life jackets to swim with. They really liked them but were still pretty cautious around the water.

Before we knew it, it was time to go to the rehearsal. They had adoration and confession beforehand, so we were trying to make it so we could go to confession. Not only did we miss confession, we were late for the rehearsal. We were stuck in traffic for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was horrible! It was bumper to bumper rush hour traffic the entire way. You couldn't pay me to do that every day! We finally made it to the rehearsal.

They had the dinner at a restaurant called, The Happy Gnome. Catchy, right? They rented out the top floor. It was so much fun. It was open bar and there was a ton of good food. They served salmon, steak, and some vegetables for the main course. They also had some dessert trays. Yum!

I've included some pictures of the wedding. I'll do the reception later. This was getting too long!

We're trying to get the flower girls ready. We did their hair. We gave them all little buns. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Jude was kind of crabby, but we weren't surprised. :) She's lucky she's cute because she's got such an attitude!

Doesn't she look like a Spanish princess? She is so pretty! The picture doesn't do any justice.

Matt and his parents. This picture is really dark.

The flower girls and ring bearers right before they were to walk down. They had Janai, Jude, Mia, and Riley for flower girls and Noah and Ethan for ring bearers.

My little brother, Nathan, and little sister, Kelly. Don't they look cute?

My little sister, Sarah, and Matt's friend, Mark.

Me and Matt's friend, Jason.

My little brother, Billy, my big sister, Amber, and my future niece or nephew.

Walking down the aisle. So cute!

Believe it or not, they all walked down, even Jude!

Here comes the bride, all fat and white....totally kidding, of course. My dad and my little sister, Jenna.

Mr. and Mrs. Matt Jahnke. Don't they look so happy?

Time for the fun to begin...

New Job

2011-09-21T15:41:00.002-05:00

I have a new job! I'm so excited! Do you remember how I was offered a clinic position but it was too many hours so I turned it down? Well, they called back and offered me a part-time position. It's about 20 hours a week. It's perfect! I'll no longer be working weekends or holidays!

My current manager can keep me up to a month before she lets me transfer. She's planning on keeping me the entire month, so I think my transfer date will be around October 20th. I have 6 night shifts left. I'm going to try and stay PRN in the NICU. This means I work when we're really busy. I have to stay up on all the education requirements, which are insane, so we'll see if I can do it.

Mike and I are really excited. I hope the kids transition well. They'll be going to daycare more, so I hope they do okay. They do like going to Elizabeth's, so I don't think it'll be an issue. I also took a 10% pay cut, which sucks, but I guess that's the price you pay for good hours!

2 1/2 Years All Ready?

2011-09-17T15:48:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe that our little baby is 2 1/2. Riley is such a sweet little kid. She has always been my little helper. If I'm unloading the dishwasher, she's right there helping. If I'm putting clothes away, she wants to help. If Mia asks for milk, she'll bring her the sippy cup. She's always grabbing Ethan's blanket for him. She's very much a people pleaser.

Though, she has started acting like a 3-year old. I was just thinking that the twins have finally gotten easier and now I have another 3-year old. Riley reminds me a lot of Ethan. I think she may have inherited some of his quirkiness. I made the mistake of tucking her baby in with an old baby blanket. Since then, she has me tuck her babies in multiple times a day. She'll bring me 7-8 baby outfits and expects me to put them all on. She'll then bring me washcloths and towels and I'm supposed to tuck those around the baby. Then she'll bring me a couple of baby blankets and I'm supposed to wrap those around the baby. She watches me like a hawk and if she doesn't like how I do it, she screams. After 20 minutes of this, I finally get the baby tucked in how she likes it. She'll hold it for 10 minutes and strip everything off the baby and wants me to start over. :)

She loves putting "ake-up" on and putting it on her babies. She watches how I do it and then copies me. She's getting a little better about getting into my mascara. She'll still get into my powders and foundation though. Riley also loves having her fingernails and toenails painted. I try to do it when the kids are sleeping because otherwise, I'll have 60 extra digits to do.

Riley insists on picking out all of her own clothes and pajamas. She is pretty decent at matching. She's been wearing underwear for a month now. Everytime I put underwear on her, I tell her not to pee in her underwear because the underwear will get mad. Haha. She now says it every time I put underwear on her.

She has accidents sometimes but is really good about telling me she has to go to the bathroom. Riley still copies Ethan and pees outside. She is very proud when she does it. She still needs a diaper at nap and bedtime. Speaking of nap time, she still usually needs an afternoon nap. She'll sleep 1 1/2 hour and she usually goes to bed around 10:30pm and wakes up around 9am.

Riley is still a huge mama's girl. She is getting better with the clinginess. She'll run off and play babies with Mia, so that gives me a much needed break. Riley likes to rough-house with Ethan but he tends to be a little too rough, so it doesn't last long.

She has just started watching tv. She really likes the, "Bubble Guppies", "Umi-Zoomie", and the movie, "Tangled." Riley loves to color and paint and read books. Her favorite thing is to play with her babies. She pretends to feed them, change their diapers, and rocks them.

She really likes going to daycare. The last time I dropped her off, she kept saying, "bye mommy"--like she wanted me to leave. She didn't get sad or cry. There are a couple of little girls there and they play really well together. I'm so glad she likes it there!

Riley is a pretty good eater. She tries almost anything. One of the weird things she likes is coleslaw. I had never given it to her because I figured she wouldn't like it. Over the 4th of July, she had some off of Grandma's plate. She wolfed it down. I received a text from Elizabeth (their daycare) a few weeks ago, and it said, "I served coleslaw for lunch and Riley inhaled it." :)

Riley has been talking a lot. She likes to tell me that I'm "ucky" and "gross" (she gets that from Ethan.) She copies everything the twins say. She also tells me to "go away" a lot. She's now very private when she uses the bathroom, so after I help her up on the toilet, she points her finger at me and says, "go away, Mommy." Ummm...okay. If I do something that upsets her, she tells me that I'm in "big trouble" and tells me to go to my room. It's so funny what they pick up.

It hasn't always been easy having 3 little kids, but I couldn't imagine what our life would be like without them! They're growing up way too fast, and I constantly have to remind myself to enjoy every little moment. Before too long, they're going to be in school and I'll be wishing that they were little once again.

Concord Grapes

2011-09-16T15:30:00.007-05:00

We have some grape vines on our acreage. The first year we lived there, they didn't produce much at all. We had a little more last year, but we've had the most this year. Mike and I tried some last year. I thought they were the grossest tasting grapes ever. It turns out that you're not supposed to eat the skins. :) The skins taste gross, but the inside of the grape is really sweet. Good to know.

Mike's mom wanted to take the grapes and make concord grape jelly. We had a little picking party. Ethan really got into it. He was all about picking the grapes. Mia and Riley weren't too interested, so they sat and watched.

Instead of picking the cluster of grapes, Ethan picked them one by one. It kept him busy for a very long time.

He actually calls the grape vine his house. He climbs all over it. I've caught him standing on the very top of it.

The end result--two full coolers of concord grapes. I'm looking forward to trying the jelly!

Favorite Things

2011-09-08T13:53:00.008-05:00

I always like seeing what people's favorite things are. I thought I'd post some of mine!

My Canon Rebel EOS T2i camera. It takes such nice pictures. I highly recommend one! I started taking a camera class so I can learn how to use it better. There's so much you can do with this camera, and I know I've hardly scratched the surface.

WoodWick Candles smell so good! They make a cracking sound like a fire is burning. They also last a long time.

I love perfume. It was hard for me to choose my top five, but here they are! Romance by Ralph Lauren, Clinique Happy, Light Blue by Dolce and Gabanna, Miss Dior Cherie, and Chance by Chanel.

I love Dior Show mascara. I have sensitive eyes and this stuff doesn't bother them. It's a total splurge at almost $30 a tube. I've tried a couple different kinds of Dior Show mascara and have loved them both!

My CeraVe face wash and lotion. I have very sensitive skin and this is gentle. It's very similar to Cetaphil, but I think this does a better job. It's slightly more expensive, but it's very good for a drug store brand.

My IPad. I can't tell you how much I love this thing. I'd be absolutely devastated if something happened to it. It's so fast compared to my laptop. I love how light weight and portable it is. You can buy all sorts of apps for it and the kids love playing games on it.

My Dyson vacuum cleaner. This thing picks up so much stuff from my carpet. It's kind of gross and fascinating at the same time. My mom lent me her Big Power vacuum which is like the Rainbow. It looks like R2D2 from Star Wars. You add water to the base and all the dirt and gunk goes into the water. I've noticed I have less dust in my house since I've started using it. The issue with it is it's SO big and clunky.

The Scrubbing Bubbles wash cloth. It has microfiber on one side and a coarser side for stuck on stuff. The microfiber side picks up coffee grounds and other fine crumbs and they cling to it. It's awesome!

Coffee is one of my guilty pleasures. I like to buy whole bean coffee and grind it myself. Some of my favorite brands are: Seattle's Best, Caribou, and Starbucks. My mom buys some whole bean coffee off of the internet from monks. That stuff is really good too!

The Capresso coffee bean grinder. You can set how fine or coarse you want the beans ground.

Ahhh! My Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Maker. It is hand-made in the Netherlands. I did a lot of research before picking this coffee maker. It makes great coffee! I also like how simple it is. There is an on/off switch and a switch to turn the hot plate on/off.

End of Summer

2011-09-06T17:02:00.008-05:00

Wow! It's the end of summer. I love fall. I'm so excited for the hot weather to be over. It's supposed to be in the 70's here the rest of the week and the low 80's this weekend. Perfect!

I finally unloaded my cheap-o camera. I take that camera on road trips and other places my nice camera could be ruined. I didn't realize that I hadn't unloaded it in months. I had pictures on their from May. :) I thought I'd include some of my favorites.

There are 6 horses that live a couple of blocks from us. The kids and I like to walk over there to see them. One of the horses almost always comes up to the fence for some carrots or grass. Sure enough, the one time I bring my camera, he doesn't come. The kids were pretty disappointed!

We had a summer barbeque at our friends' house, Nate and Mandy. It was a lot of fun. The mom's ended up taking the kids to the zoo and the dad's all golfed. Who got the short end of the stick on that one? :) We had a great time at the zoo. We didn't lose anyone, which was what we were fearing. There were 6 kids and 3 adults. We were a tad outnumbered, but the kids behaved really well.

The girls on the camel at the zoo. Rhea is a month younger than the twins (in the front), next is Lillian who will be 3 soon, and Finn is 1 1/2. The kids had fun playing with each other!

These next pictures are from the 4th of July. I can't believe it was all ready 2 months ago.

Mia wouldn't get on the tube. She's my little chicken. I guess I can count on her hardly getting hurt!

Do you see how cautious they are going across the bridge? You should see Ethan going across it. It'd make you laugh. He runs as fast and as hard as he can and tries to bounce the girls. Maybe that's why they are holding on for dear life.

I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. Mike was in Phoenix for a business trip. Our kids went to Chamberlain to spend it with Mike's parents. They were well-behaved with Grandma and Grandpa. It sounds like they played a lot outside. They were going to go boating, but it didn't quite work out. The kids were playing in the boat and turned the key on. They went down to the water and put the boat in and it wouldn't start. :) Only my kids. I'm sure his parents just laughed about it.

One of my good friends came and stayed the weekend with me along with her hubby and little girl. We did a ton of shopping. (Gotta love the labor day sales!) Her husband is leaving for Afghanistan in a few weeks. He'll be gone a year. If you could please say some prayers for them. His job will be finding and dismanteling IED's.

I also started the brick-staining project on the front of our house. It took me 10 hours to do the front. We still have the chimney and a half-wall to do. Ugh. I'll post some pictures when it's done!

Funny Faces

2011-09-04T19:52:00.007-05:00

The kids were hamming it up for the camera the other day. They were making silly faces and wanted me to take their picture. Riley made the same face over and over. :)

School Has Started

2011-08-26T15:14:00.003-05:00

Ethan and Mia started preschool on Wednesday. They are still going in the mornings but the time changed a little bit. They go from 8:10am-11:05am. They are picked up about 7:45 and are dropped off at 11:30. A suburban picks them up but they are dropped off in a full-sized big yellow school bus. I was pretty surprised when it stopped in front of our house. There were only four tiny preschoolers on it. I had to laugh!

The bus driver told me on Thursday that both Ethan and Mia cried the first time they were put on the yellow bus. I guess they were scared! She said they didn't cry on Thursday. They got used to it pretty fast!

It's all ready time to pick out picture backgrounds and pay for them. They'll have their pictures on September 13th. I'm all ready looking forward to it. I'm hoping they turn out better than last years. :) My dad said they look like mug shots.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. I have to work the entire weekend, so I won't be doing much other than that!

Jenna's Bridal Shower

2011-08-25T14:55:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Jenna's bridal shower and bacchelorette party a few weeks ago. All of us kids were home for the weekend, which makes for a very chaotic but fun time. I felt sorry for Shayne because he was the only husband that came. Steve and Mike wussed out and stayed home.

I initially was planning on going by myself. Mike convinced me to take Riley, and then Mia, somehow, came along too. Ethan stayed with Mike, but I almost brought him too because he was sobbing when I left. He had fun with Mike though. They went to IHOP, went kayaking and did boy stuff.

The girls had fun with all of their aunts and uncles. They get so much attention and not to mention a bunch of junk food! They have my mom and dad wrapped around their fingers. I overheard my mom telling Mia it was okay to have pop at 10am.

We had corn on the cob one night for supper. Riley took the little corn on the cob holders you put on the ends, and started putting them in the cracks of the table. Not wanting her to scratch the table, Amber told her to stop. My dad then chimed in too and told her not to do that. She looked at my dad and burst into tears. She said, "Grandpa is mean to me." She must have said it a dozen times. It was so funny. I told my dad what she was saying and he said, "I'm not mean to her." She'd start to settle down a little bit and would start crying again and would say, "Grandpa is mean to me." I could tell my dad felt bad. He tried giving her a piece of fudge, and then an oatmeal cream pie, both of which she rejected. He then gave her a vanilla wafer and she was happy again and told him she loved him.

I only took six pictures the entire weekend, which is so not like me. I was disappointed when I unloaded my camera and realized it. I brought my camera to the shower, but Mia and Riley kept me so busy. They kept running off and making a bunch of noise. Riley then pooped in her underwear. Yuck. I didn't take one picture at the shower!

Riley fell asleep with a french fry in her mouth. :)

We went out Saturday night for Jenna's bachelorette party. Amber wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home. We were pretty tame. Jenna didn't want to do any of the crude games, so we did a little dancing and took some shots. We had fun!

Jenna's shower was on Sunday, which was part of the reason we didn't want to get too carried away. It was a smaller shower, but it made it more intimate. We all gave her advice on marriage. My Grandma came to the shower. She's almost 90 but is so fiesty. Every time it was her turn to talk, she pretty much would tell Jenna not to get married. We finally stopped calling on her. :)

Our New Toy

2011-08-18T15:40:00.006-05:00

We bought the kids a trampoline! It took a lot of convincing on my part which is weird because I'm usually the safety nut. Mike finally caved and we've been jumping ever since. The kids absolutely love it. The girls don't like jumping on it with Ethan. He's so crazy on it that he scares them. Ethan has all ready started doing flips, which I am not prepared for. I don't know how he figured out to do that.

I Came Around the Corner to find Ethan Doing This...

2011-08-12T16:25:00.002-05:00

Yes, those are corn-cob holders. He stuck four of them in the outlet. Thank God they have rubber ends!

Keeping Busy!

2011-08-11T16:31:00.003-05:00

I can't believe August is half over! We've been keeping busy since the kids have gotten out of preschool. Ethan asks everyday if he is going to preschool. Mia talks about her teacher, Julie, almost every day. I'm so happy they enjoy it. They start again August 24th. They'll go from 8:10am-11:05am.

Ethan and Mia have gotten so much better this past month. They have been playing so well alone, with each other, and with Riley. They still are terrible about getting into things, but they are listening better too. Maybe we're over the "tiresome three's". I sure am hoping so! I can't believe I'll have 4-year olds in a few months! It makes me sad!

They also have been talking a lot more. I bought a new pair of pajamas and came out wearing them. Mia looks at me and said, "ooooohh....mom, you look pretty!" Ethan looked at me and said, "you look cute." They sure know how to make me smile.

Riley has gotten all four of her canine teeth in the past month. She's been pretty crabby. I don't blame her though. She's quite the character. She has seen Ethan pee outside quite a few times, and now, she wants to do it too. She stands exactly like him (arches her back) and puts her hand down there like a little boy would. She then pees all over the sidewalk. She's crazy!

Mike and I are working some on our house. We painted a bedroom downstairs. I'll take some pictures and post them. It's amazing what paint can do. We also painted some posts in front of our house and the beams on the deck. We have yet to stain the brick in the front of our house. The kids are going to need to go to Grandpa and Grandma's in order for us to do that!

I applied for a couple of family medicine clinic jobs. I'm ready to stop working nights, weekends, and holidays. After doing it for 9 years, I'm ready to have a normal schedule. I was offered the one position, but they wanted 64 hours every 2 weeks. I only want 40 or so, so I don't think it's going to work out. I'm hoping they change their mind, but I have my fingers crossed for the second clinic job. It's an automatic 10% pay cut. Ouch! And the kids would have to go to daycare more, so we're going to have to crunch some numbers. I'm excited to be normal though, and I think it's worth the paycut!

What the Kids Did While I Was Cleaning...

2011-08-04T16:09:00.006-05:00

Yes, he colored every body part he could reach. And that included his most favorite body part ever, whick I blacked out.

Laughing at herself. She wasn't laughing when I had to wash the marker off of her face. :)

Riley got in on the action too. She wasn't as bad as the other two.

Some Randomness

2011-08-03T16:34:00.006-05:00

Ethan put on 7 pairs of Mia's pants plus 3 of her shirts. He was sweating like crazy. It took me 10 minutes to take them off!

Riley found the jewelry I had when I was in high school. The kids had fun playing with it. I can't believe I wore some of that stuff! Talk about ugly!

Mini Photo Shoot

2011-07-28T15:00:00.010-05:00

We had a little photo shoot over the 4th of July. We were at Larry and Jan's house (Mike's Uncle and Aunt.) They had a wooden duck that the kids were fascinated with. The duck made it into most of the pictures. I didn't get one picture where they're all looking. Oh well. We had fun!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-26T16:10:00.009-05:00

Happy 4th of July! Ok, I'm a few weeks late. We spent the holiday in Chamberlain with Mike's family. Mike's Dad's side of the family gathers every 4th for boating, swimming, and fireworks. It was kind of interesting this year because of how high the Missouri River is. There are campgrounds completely under water. You can also barely see the top of stop signs. We still went out on the boat and did some tubing and went for a nice ride.

It seemed like we ate non-stop. Everyone brings a dish to share, so there is food galore. I feel like I put on 10 pounds over the weekend!

The kids really got into the fireworks this year. They loved the sparklers. We went through the entire pack in about 20 minutes. They also enjoyed watching the fireworks being set off.

Mike and I headed back to Sioux Falls on Monday evening because he had to work on Tuesday. We missed the Chamberlain firework show, which is always good. The kids went with Grandpa and Grandma to watch the fireworks.

We left the kids in Chamberlain for four days. I was missing them like crazy by the end! They did really well being away from us. They went to the pool, did some fishing, and played a lot outside. It was a nice break but the house was way too quiet. It was amazing how clean it stayed though!

I'm sure Uncle Mark was just thrilled about picking up a naked kid. Mike's family isn't used to being around so many naked people.

My three have their grandparents wrapped around their tiny fingers, especially Grandpa!

Lake Okoboji

2011-07-26T15:42:00.009-05:00

I finally got around to posting the rest of our family reunion pictures. We hung out at the lake for awhile on Sunday. The water was so cold. A couple of the kids got in and played but that was it! The kids had fun playing with each other!

They all helped bury Janai in the sand. I think Janai had fun too!

My cousin's (Missy) daugher. Her name is Angel. Does she not have the best hair? Missy says they are constantly having people stop and ask about her hair.

Ethan was brave to get in the water. It was freezing!

She Said What?

2011-07-20T16:32:00.003-05:00

The kids are always fighting over who gets to sit by me, who gets to sit on my lap, stand by me etc. One day, in the midst of a fight, Mike gave me a huge hug and said, "my sexy mommy" as he tried to keep the kids away from me. (Yeah, I know. He doesn't really watch what he says in front of the kids.)

From that day forward, the kids walk around saying, "my sexy mommy." (Ethan says, "my check-off mommy", Mia says, "my secky mommy", and Riley says, "my sex-if mommy.") They get in arguments with each other and I hear them say it over and over. Mike and I laugh when they say it. I guess it's funny because they have no idea what it means.

Well, the kids have started saying it about other people. The other day, Mia went up to Grandma Andrea and said, "my sexy Grandma." I think I saw her blush a little. It was funny. Mia also went up to Aunt Sarah and said, "my sexy Sarah." Sarah was happy she made the club.

Yesterday, Mia came up to me and said, "my secky Julie." Julie is her teacher. My mouth about hit the floor. I really really hope she doesn't say that to her. I'm guessing Julie wouldn't understand what she was saying. Mike will be explaining that one to her if she figures it out!

Hanging Out at the Lodge

2011-07-14T15:32:00.009-05:00

My aunt and uncle arranged for us to rent a lodge in Lake Okoboji for the day on Sunday. It was so nice! It was right on the lake and there were walking trails right by it. We gathered, visited, and ate a ton of food. Some of us played games and some went down by the lake.

The kids had fun running all over the place. It was pretty stressful trying to keep track of them all. There were 11 little kids in total, so we all pitched in and helped watch them. I think the adults were relieved when it was time to head back to the hotel.

Here are some more running pictures. Does anyone else's kids run with their mouths open?

Earlier in the day, the kids were running around and out of the corner of my eye, I see this elderly lady completely staring at something. I look and, sure enough, she was staring at Ethan. He was peeing on a tree with his pants around his ankles. I pretended I didn't know him.

Camping

2011-07-13T14:29:00.006-05:00

We had the Rogers' (my mom's side) Family Reunion a few weeks ago. The entire family gathered in Lake Okoboji, Iowa. It was a blast seeing everyone. We don't get together nearly enough! I have so many pictures, so I'm going to break these posts up a bit.

My mom rented a couple of hotel rooms but the guys all wanted to camp. I am not a camper, especially tent-camping. I had no desire to stay in a tent! The only thing I like about camping is the smores. Yum! It was fun sitting around the campground but this chica was done when it started getting dark out!

The guys setting up one of the tents. I think there were four tents that they set up. Basically, all the guys and kids camped, plus my sister, Sarah.

The kids had so much fun running around outside. They definitely enjoyed themselves.

The girls sucking down kool-aid.

Riley invited Jude in their tent to eat yogurt. I'm sure Mike was thrilled.

Running to Mom

2011-07-06T17:25:00.004-05:00

My older sister, Amber, said that Riley looks like a basset hound when she runs. :) I can't wait until she has kids so I can make fun of them. My other two sisters, Jenna and Kelly, said my niece, Jude, looks like Dobby off of the "Harry Potter" movie because of her big eyes and her ears that stick out. The really funny part is that Sarah didn't know who Dobby was. We were laughing so hard and she went and googled him. You just should have been there!

Rummage Sale Finds

2011-07-01T21:22:00.006-05:00

I've been going to rummage sales quite a bit lately. I've found the kids a lot of nice summer clothes and some toy horses for Mia. I came across some crayola paints and thought that the kids would love them. It never crossed my mind as to why they were selling them. Now, I have an idea. I'm guessing her kids did something like this...

I'm sure once I walked away with those paints, the lady was thinking, "sucka." I swear I was only gone a minute or two. Riley had colored her arms and face red.

Mia was starting to paint her arms blue. Surprisingly, Ethan hadn't colored his body parts. He was too focused on painting his paper.

Mia's Post

2011-06-22T14:48:00.008-05:00

This post is for my Mia, my Mia Monster, my Mimi. We love her very much! I couldn't imagine not having her. She has also taught me a lot about being a parent. I've learned to hide my lotion & mascara. She's taught me to be suspicious if it's dead quiet for longer than a minute. She has also taught me to deep breathe and pray to Jesus.

She's Ethan's opposite in a lot of ways. Mia is very cautious and hardly ever gets hurt. Things tend to scare her more. I bought a remote control spider. Boy, I had fun with that thing. It completely freaked her out. When she's scared, she puts both of her hands up to her cheeks and her eyes get really big. She kind of looks like the kid in "Home Alone."

She was such an easy baby and an easier 2-year old. However, this has changed. Her personality has really come out. She's still easier than Ethan, but she can be pretty naughty. She likes to scratch and pull hair when someone makes her mad. She has mastered screaming at the top of her lungs to get attention. She's an instigator and likes to pick on the other two.

Mia, hands down, is the sneaky one. I think she's going to give us a run for our money when she gets older. She likes to snatch stuff and hide behind the couch and get into whatever she took. Her absolute favorite is my mascara. She covers herself and Riley in black mascara. It really wouldn't be that big of a deal but I have to buy expensive mascara because I have sensitive eyes. It is very irritating seeing her smear my $30 mascara all over their naked bodies.

She also likes to take my handsoap and squirt it on her head. And on Riley's head. Mia will get her hands on our phones or cameras and hide behind the couch. The only reason we know this is because we have 50 pictures of the back of the couch and parts of Mia's body.

Mia was a great sleeper when she was a baby and early-toddler. She hardly ever woke up during the night. This has changed for some reason. When she had RSV and pneumonia, I let her sleep with us to keep an eye on her. Well, almost every single night since then, she comes into our room hoping to crawl in our bed. I give her a drink of milk and I put her back in her room. Sometimes she comes back a second time and sometimes not.

She is very smart. One night, I didn't wake up right away when she came in (which is rare.) She went to Mike's side of the bed and he let her crawl in bed with us. I woke up and walked her back to her room. I seriously wanted to chew him out right then and there. But, being a nice wife, I waited until the next day. (I don't mind her sleeping with us every once in awhile, but I don't like getting woken up every night.) Well, last night, she didn't even try to wake me up. She went straight to Mike's side and sure enough, he let her get in bed with us. I woke up with my snuggly Mia right next to me. Little squirt. And my chewing Mike out obviously didn't sink in.

She is starting to master going from parent to parent to get a "yes" answer. She'll ask Mike for ice cream, and he'll say "no." She'll then come ask me for ice cream. Not knowing that he said "no", I'll give her some. It has started all ready. :)

Her favorite food is peanut-butter and jelly. She says it so cute. She asks for one almost every day. Mia also loves cheetos, chocolate, deli meat, pop, juice, bananas, cantaloupe, strawberries, chicken strips, and ice cream. She is still picky but has gotten much better.

She's still very little. She weighs 27 pounds and wears 3T clothing. She and Riley actually share clothes which leads to some fights.

She picks out all of her outfits from her shirt to socks. She does a decent job at matching her clothes. She's in love with her elmo pajamas and elmo shirts. If they're clean and in her drawer, that's what she picks out. She honestly changes 5 times a day. Every time she comes out of her room, she has a different outfit on. I love seeing her outfits! She has never wanted to wear any of Ethan's things.

She's girlie. Mia loves having her toenails painted. She usually chooses red for the nail polish. She hates getting her hair fixed and brushed. I've wanted to give her a buzz cut many times trying to brush through her hair!

Her favorite toy right now are her horses. She likes to put her barbie dolls and baby dolls on them and give them rides. She doesn't like sharing her horses with Ethan or Riley. She likes to line them all up and talk to them. She loves playing babies with Riley. They'll push around strollers together. It makes me so happy to see them playing together.

Mia tends to be a pest. If I'm on my I-Pad, she'll come over and quick tap the screen a few times and run away. If Ethan is playing Superman on my computer, she'll come over and slap the keyboard a couple times and run away fast. This makes Ethan yell and she just laughs! If Riley is playing quietly with her babies, Mia will sneak up behind her and grab a baby and run.

Mia's speech is also getting better. The other day, we were sitting at the table and she said, "Mommy, I'm happy." It instantly brought a smile to my face. She also will tell me, "Mommy, I miss you." She dips her voice when she says, "you", and it's so adorable. She will also tell me I'm mean and ucky when she's upset.

She doesn't like watching much tv either. She'll watch it when she's tired or sick. Her favorites are, "Dino Dan", "Horseland", "Spongebob", "Curious George" and "Gooby." She does like going to the movies and will sit through almost the entire film. Eating popcorn and drinking pop is one of her favorites too!

Mia is very sweet and cuddly. She'll sit on my lap for hours at a time. She's even-tempered. She does get mad but will get over it faster than her brother. She's got a contagious laugh and smile. Her laugh is also devilish sounding. I always look to see what she's laughing at because it always sounds like she's up to something.

I feel so blessed to be Mia's mom. She's such a sweet, cute, and loving child. I can't thank God enough for giving us these children. It's fun watching them grow up! But I wish it'd slow down a little bit!

3 1/2 Years Old

2011-06-19T15:42:00.000-05:00

Ethan and Mia turned 3 1/2 a couple of days ago. I can't believe how fast this is going! I wish I could hit the pause button (only when they're being good) and keep them little and innocent. Though, I have to admit that age 3 is, by far, my least favorite of the stages. When the twins were 2, I couldn't wait for 3 to hit. I figured that being 2 would be the worst of it. People at work kept telling me that 3 was even worse than the 2 year old stage. I just couldn't believe it. How could a 3 year old be worse than a 2 year old? Well, I certainly have found out. And in case you're wondering, 3 is worse than 2 (for us, anyhow.)

I want to dedicate this post to Ethan. We love him so much! I'm glad that God gave him to us. I can't imagine our crazy house without him. He has taught me a lot about being a parent. I know how to deep breathe, meditate, count to ten, and pray to Jesus. Haha. All jokes aside, he's such a cute little boy and it's only going to get more fun as he gets older.

He's my first born. It's no surprise that he was the one that sent me into labor. His water broke and that was that. He has one of the strongest personalities I've ever seen. He is so very picky about things. If I get him toast on an orange plate, he won't eat it because he wanted a green plate. He has to pick out his glass, plate, cup, and fork. On the flip side, he knows exactly what he wants. There's no lolly-gagging around.

One of his favorite foods is peanut-butter toast. He has to watch me put the peanut-butter on and won't eat it until I've covered every square inch of it. He likes it smooth and will point out any bumps. He won't eat it if you cut it. (Here's a funny story. The kids went and stayed with my parents for the weekend. My dad made them peanut butter toast. He cut Ethan's and Ethan started throwing a fit. My dad called me to ask me what was wrong with him. I asked my dad, "did you cut it?" My dad says, "yes" sarcastically. I reply, "he doesn't like it cut." You should have heard my dad. It was hilarious. He made Ethan another piece of toast.)

When Ethan is in a good mood, he's a blast to be around. He laughs and smiles and is so funny. He can get everyone laughing with all his silliness. He runs around like a chicken with its head cut off. When Ethan is in a bad mood, watch out. He seems to be at the extremes. He's either very very happy or very very pissed off.

Ethan is very smart and very curious. He always wants to figure things out. He knows how to run my dishwasher, run the microwave, turn the tv on/off, put a movie in. He thinks he's big enough to get the gallon of milk out of the fridge, get himself a glass, and pour himself some milk. I've caught him doing this in the middle of the night. I saw a light go on so went to investigate. He had poured himself some milk. He walked right past me to go to bed and didn't say a word. He left the milk out and the fridge open. That would have been a fun surprise the next morning! He's actually really good at pouring the milk and hardly ever spills.

He no longer lets me pick out his clothes. This makes for some interesting outfits. I don't care at all if he doesn't match. We do get some looks from passer-bys though. Ethan wore the above outfit to the Renaissance festival. Mike wanted to get Mia some pink fairy wings. Ethan wanted green fairy wings. We bought him some and he wore them all over the festival. :)

He's 150% boy. He loves to rough-house and kick balls and break stuff. He loves his Spiderman stuff and anything alien or robot. He likes having his toenails painted. I guess he doesn't realize he's not supposed to like his toenails painted. Oh well. He'll figure it out soon enough. I'll continue to paint his nails as long as he wants them done. I've gotten a few comments on his painted toenails, but I don't care. He always chooses the color green for nail polish. Green is his favorite color!

Mia has a very girlie butterfly rain coat that they all fight over. Ethan loves wearing that coat. He brought it to my parents' house and wore it when they went to the zoo. Haha. My mom said everyone would look at him and then look at my mom. I wish they could stay innocent like that forever.

He doesn't really like watching tv. The only time he wants to watch it is if he's tired or doesn't feel well. Again, he's really picky about what he watches. Some of his favorites are, "Dino Dan," certain "Spiderman," "Iron Man", and "Hulk" cartoons. He sometimes likes "Spongebob." (That cartoon drives me crazy!)

Ethan's speech is getting better. He's talking in sentences now. There are a lot of times I can't understand him and he gets so upset. I wish I could understand everything he says. I think a lot of his frustrations are over this.

If I'm not paying attention to him, he yells, "Mommy, look at my eyes. Look at my eyes." It makes me laugh every time. He also tells me I'm "ucky" almost every day. My reply? "You're ucky too, Ethan." He also tells me I'm "mean." My reply? "You're mean too, Ethan." You've got to have some fun with them!

I seriously could go on forever about Ethan, but this post is way too long. He is such a special little boy. I love being his mom and watching him grow up!

Wedding Photos Part 3

2011-06-17T15:25:00.005-05:00

My entire family with all the husbands and fiances. There are 19 of us so far. I keep telling my parents to get a bigger house. We all squish in my parents' house for holidays and it's busting at the seams! It sure is fun though!

When we were growing up, my dad always told us to smile without showing teeth. Weird, right? I think he was trying to be funny but all of my school pictures look exactly like Nate does here --not a single tooth in site.

Wedding Photos Part 2

2011-06-17T15:00:00.006-05:00

I always love the pictures right after the wedding is over. You can see total happiness and relief in their faces.

This picture was right before they saw each other for the first time. I love Amber's expression.

This is my immediate family. From left to right: Will, Nathan, Kelly, me, Shayne, Amber, Mom, Dad, Jenna, and Sarah. Can you imagine having 7 kids? I really don't know how my parents did it.

Wedding Photos Part 1

2011-06-16T16:01:00.006-05:00

Shayne and Amber received their wedding pictures a few days ago. They are SO good. I have no idea how they're going to choose which ones to get. I wanted to post some of my favorites but am going to do it in a couple of posts since there are so many.

Of course I am biased, but is this not one of the cutest pictures? They had cupcakes and cookies at the reception. Here's Riley in the midst of her sugar high. And my hubby looks pretty cute himself.

Saying their, "I do's." There's no turning back. Haha. Just kidding Shayne and Amber! They had to memorize their vows. I'm pretty sure I would have screwed it up, but they did well!

Slip-In-Slide Time

2011-06-15T15:48:00.005-05:00

The joys of summer! We drug the slip-in-slide out last week. The kids loved it. As expected, Ethan was a maniac and dove right in. The girls were a little more reserved but did venture through the sprinklers. The darn thing killed our grass though. We now have a long yellow strip right where it was.

I had to include this picture of Riley. She'll probably kill me someday for it. That's quite the snuggie! She couldn't get it out so I had to pull it out of her butt for her.

Visit Back Home

2011-06-13T16:57:00.004-05:00

Mike had a business trip in San Diego a few weeks ago. I really wanted to tag along, but he was going to share a hotel room with his boss. That would have just been weird. Instead, I went to my parents' house. My nephew, Noah, also tagged along.

I slept in Nathan's room upstairs with Ethan and Mia. Riley decided to sleep on the couch. It's a good thing because there wasn't room anyhow! The bed frame was broken so the bed tilted downward at a pretty big angle. My mom put satin sheets on the bed. You can imagine how slippery it was. Ethan fell out of the damn thing FIVE times. Yes, five times. I kept hearing thump after thump all night long. The amazing thing is he never cried. I just kept picking him up and putting him back in bed. My feet were dangling off the end of the bed for most of the night, and Mia kept sliding downward. I could feel her crawling up to the top of the bed multiple times that night.

I'm sure I looked like a zombie the next morning. My dad, who is just as a light sleeper as me, said to me, "I heard that kid fall out of bed." (He calls all of the grandkids "that kid".) Ummm...yeah, try five times. I looked at my mom and asked her why she would put satin sheets on a bed that tilts downward. My mom was trying not to laugh because none of us got any sleep. We both finally busted out laughing. It was pretty funny.

The boys wanted to show me their dangling ability. Pretty impressive.

The girls were fighting. Riley had Mia in a headlock. She's pretty good at that. I'm not sure where she learned it from.

My dad took the kids out to the farm. I sent my camera along for him to get some pictures. He took ONE picture. The kids are fascinated with tractors. They each got a tractor ride. They were so excited when they got back.

Falls Park

2011-06-13T16:10:00.011-05:00

I am way behind on posts. We have been really busy since the weather has gotten nice. I'm not working as many weekends, and it's amazing what a difference it makes. We've been working on our beast of a yard and have just finished all of the weeding. We have some projects we want to get done to the outside of our house over the summer. We want to build a new shed, stain the brick in the front, build a patio out back, and put in some edging. It's a lofty list. I'd be happy if we got a couple of the things done!

We went to Falls Park over Memorial Day. We stayed in town because I had to work part of the weekend. We wanted to take the kids somewhere and decided to go to Falls Park. It is such a beautiful place to visit and best of all, it's free! It was actually pretty hot that day so we didn't walk all of the trails.

The kids had fun climbing on all of the rocks and being outside. We bought them some ice cream which wasn't the best idea we've had. It melted faster than they could lick it. Mike and I finished off the soggy cones. You see the sacrifices we make as parents? Instead of buying ourselves ice cream cones, we get the soggy left-over ones. At least they didn't have dog treats hidden in them.

I go through the pictures and realize I'm never in any of them. I had Mike take this picture. I couldn't get Riley to get out of the stroller to take the picture. Oh well.

She still wouldn't get out of the stroller. She didn't want Mia to take her spot. Sibling rivalry at its best.

What a great photo of Mike and the kids. Frame-able. I'm not sure what Ethan is doing.

Ethan rolled all the way down the hill. It made me dizzy watching him. Passer-bys were laughing at him.

I'm trying to get Ethan to take a picture with me. The girls wouldn't come over and I'm holding onto Ethan so he wouldn't run away.

Flavored Yogurt

2011-06-12T13:10:00.004-05:00

Each kiddo wanted their own yogurt this morning, so of course, there were half-eaten containers. I decided to eat the rest of Riley's. I took a big bite and felt something hard and chunky in my mouth. Would you like to know what it was? A dog treat. I almost bit into a dog treat. I can't begin to tell you how gross it tasted!

Butterfly House

2011-05-31T15:48:00.006-05:00

I took my little devils to the Butterfly House a few days ago. My little sister, Jenna, was in town, so she came too. It was the first time that we've been there. It really is a neat place. I ended up buying a year's membership for it.

They have quite a few salt-water fish tanks, some frogs, some bugs, and tons of butterflies. The butterflies are in an entirely separate room and they fly all around you. I wasn't quite ready for the 90 degree heat in the butterfly room. It was extremely humid in there as well. My camera fogged up several times. We actually only stayed in the butterfly room for about 15 minutes because it was too hot in there!

The kids were pretty well behaved. They really liked the butterflies. Riley was a little scared at first because one butterfly kept flying right in her face. She kept trying to get it away from her. It was pretty funny! She disappeared for a second and we found her sitting on a bench. I guess she had had enough!

They also have a little play area with toys, books, and a lizard that the kids all thought was a snake. I rarely take all three kids out by myself because they're still pretty unpredictable and don't listen to me very well (anyone else have that problem?) Plus, the three of them combined is like a pack of wild beasts. I can take two out with no problems, but all three together is kind of a nightmare. But I think I could manage all three of them by myself at the Butterfly House. The place isn't very big so if one got away from me, I could spot them pretty easily.

He was trying to get the butterfly off of the leaf. It wouldn't budge and he finally gave up.
It kind of looks like one huge garden.

She spotted a monarch.

These butterflies are huge!

Are They Done Yet?

2011-05-29T14:03:00.002-05:00

They're patiently waiting for the cinnamon rolls to get done.

Mia Loves Horses

2011-05-26T15:40:00.003-05:00

I can't begin to describe how much Mia loves horses. We have a farm a block away from us that has a few horses and she loves watching them as we drive by. She has never really been able to touch one.

The cabin we stayed at was on a farm. They had a couple of horses and a couple of donkeys. Mia was in heaven. I think she was a little scared at their size, but she did manage to pet them.

Long Time, No Post

2011-05-26T15:05:00.004-05:00

Mike's Aunt and Uncle celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. They renewed their wedding vows, and Ethan was a ring bearer in the wedding. It was fun to get together with his cousins and their kids.

We stayed the night in a cabin. It had tons of stuffed animals on the walls. There was an enormous elk, many ducks, and some deer heads. The kids were a little freaked out at first but got used to it. They kept calling the elk a moose. It was fun to watch them stare at the animals. I'm sure they were trying to figure out why the heck they were on the walls and why they weren't moving.

Mike's parents.

Mike and Mark.

The kids all wanted Grandma and Grandpa to buy them golf carts. Riley wanted the red one.

Mia also wanted the red one.

Ethan wanted the green one. Green is his favorite color right now. He wants green chocolate, green eggs, green lemons, green cheese etc. You get the picture.

He was a pro at it.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

2011-05-13T15:57:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's! Ethan and Mia gave me plants for Mother's Day that they made in preschool. I absolutely LOVE them. Mia's is on the left, and Ethan's is on the right. I love that they gave me a handmade gift. They were so proud of them too. They've both been dumped out several times and I'm surprised they are still alive!

I had to work the entire weekend of Mother's Day. Mike's parents came up and we grilled out on Sunday. I ended up with a migraine on Sunday, so I did call into work. I spent the entire day lying done. Migraines are the worst! Consider yourself very lucky if you've never had one!

We bought a couch from Sarah's future mother-in-law to replace the ugly purple sectional downstairs. (The previous owners of the house left it here.) It made such a huge improvement in the way the downstairs looks! Mike asked if the couch could be my Mother's Day present. I told him that if it's going to be my present for Mother's Day, it's also his present for Father's Day. :) There's no way that I'm getting a couch and he gets something electronic!

Happy Birthday!

2011-05-13T15:19:00.006-05:00

Happy 32nd Birthday, Mike! I'm kind of late in posting this, but we celebrated Mike's birthday on May 5th. Mark watched the kids for us and we headed to Johnny Carino's, which is an Italian restaurant. We had some good food, good beer, and a couple of tequila shots. Hey, it was Cinco de Mayo after all! :)

We had such a good time. It's amazing what a date can do! We were gone a couple of hours. The kids love going over to Mark's house. He's got so much new stuff they can get into. He said they were pretty well behaved. However, later that night, he posted on facebook, "Just had a triple dose of birth control." Hahaha

I thought I'd post some pictures of Mike when he was a little boy. Mike is on the left and Mark is on the right. Mike and Ethan look a lot alike.

Mike is on the left. Mark is on the right. What cute boys! What happened to them? :)

The kids all helped make Mike's birthday cake. They had to lick some frosting, of course.

They fought almost the entire time as to who got to do what. Anyone else's kids fight like cats and dogs? Ugghh

The finished cake. I had a 2 and a 3 from the kids' birthdays. It worked out perfectly. They helped with everything down to the sprinkles. We took the cake and ice cream over to Mark's house. All three kids had to help blow the candles out and pretty much spit all over the cake. I offered Mark a piece. He smiled at me and shook his head no.