Meet Lulu

Riley just had to have her own guinea pig. She named hers LuLu and she's the one that's black, white, and red. She's two months younger than Little Squeaks and they are sisters.

Riley is over-the-moon happy. Riley shares her guinea pig a little more than Mia. Mia won't let anyone hold Little Squeaks and that's part of the reason why Riley wanted her own.

These guinea pigs are so sweet and calm. Not a day goes by that they aren't held. They've nipped the girls a couple of times but that's because the girls squeezed them a little too hard.

Mia and Riley clean out their cage once a week. One will vacuum up the poop and the other will clean up the pee. They also feed them and help get them water. They've really impressed me as far as how they help take care of them.

Ethan said that he wanted a guinea pig but I told him he'd have to help clean out their cage and so he changed his mind.

Happy Birthday, Ethan and Mia!

 Ethan and Mia's birthday fell on a Thursday this year. They went to school that morning and arrived home about 4 pm. We decided to go to the mall and play at the bouncy house place. They had fun horsing around.

 I've taken them to the mall maybe 1-2 times when they were little. It was quite funny because they couldn't figure out what the mall was all about. They kept asking where we were at. I think they were intrigued by all of the different stores in one building. I guess I need to get them out more.

 Santa Claus happened to be at the mall when we went to the bouncy house. The kids were extremely excited to see him. They did really well sitting on his lap and telling him what they wanted. Santa said his favorite cookie is chocolate chip and that his reindeer and sled are at the airport.

Mia wanted to go to Red Lobster for supper (surprising, I know!) Mark and Kelly joined us for supper.

The waiter let the kids touch a lobster. They thought that was pretty cool. We told the waiter it was their birthday, so they sang to them. It was so cute.
                                      We called it a night after supper because the kids had school the next morning. My babies are growing up so fast. I wish time would slow down!

Happy Thanksgiving

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We celebrated at Sarah's house this year. My entire family came for the weekend. The nice thing about both Sarah and I living in the same town is we have plenty of room to host our huge family. (There are 20 people in my immediate family.)

 I didn't take many pictures that weekend but I did snap a few pictures of the kids doing a gingerbread house. It turned out really cute.

My brother-in-law Shayne ended up getting the stomach flu on Thanksgiving. That night, my sister, Amber got it along with Ethan and Riley. By the next morning, Jenna, Margaret, and Nathan got it. The next day, my dad got it. The day after that, Kelly and my mom got it. It was HORRIBLE. I had all of these puking people at my house. We lysolled everything but my house still felt gross. I was absolutely amazed that Mike, Mia, and I didn't get it.

There was no black Friday shopping for me. Everyone was puking! There's always next year.

Jenna's Baby Shower

 We celebrated Jenna's baby shower at the end of October. (I am way behind on posts.) We rented the KC hall in Watertown. It has a full kitchen and tons of seating for guests. We had a brunch with croissants, fruit, yogurt, and egg bake. The food was really good and we had a pretty good turnout.

 I gave the girls my cheap canon camera and they went to town taking pictures. I love seeing things from their point of view.

 Kelly probably isn't going to like this one very much. Oh well. 

 Here's a close-up of Aunt Sarah.

 We decided to play a couple of games. We bought quite a few different jars of baby food and made Jenna sample each one. She had to try and guess which food it was. It was VERY funny.

 She didn't like any of them as you can tell from her face. I think she only got one right.

 The kids had a blast watching her try them all.

 Instead of giving Jenna a tiny bit, Kelly loaded the spoon up with baby food. 

 I saw those little hot dog chunks in a jar at Walmart. I never bought them for my kids because they look absolutely disgusting. I had to get them for Jenna!!

 This was my favorite of the kinds she tried. Kelly thought it was equally as funny.

 After she tried all of the baby food, she said that she will never buy baby food for Margaret.

 Next, we played the candy bar in the diaper game. She did much better with this game. I think she only had one wrong.

 Next, it was present time. Do your kids love opening presents as much as mine do? They were tearing at bags as fast as they could and Jenna was trying to keep up with them.

Isn't she cute? Margaret (Midge, Marge, Margo, Magpie) is one of the easiest babies I've ever seen. I don't know how Jenna lucked out! She hardly ever cries and smiles constantly. She's so sweet.

Happy 10 Year Anniversary to Us!

Mike and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on November 22nd. I can't believe it has been that long! These years have flown by. I'm lucky enough to be married to a great guy who loves me and who happens to be my best friend. I hope God blesses us with many more years.

I was hoping for a trip to Europe or an exotic vacation to an island somewhere, but it didn't work out. We didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a vacation right before Christmas and it turns out our passports are expired.

We still wanted to get away over our anniversary and ended up going to Kansas City for the weekend. We had a good time! We ate lots of good food, went to the second "Hunger Games" movie, and did a little shopping. It was nice sleeping in and being relaxed. It was just what we needed.

Funny Pictures

I thought it would be funny to post some of the funnier pictures. I think you can see their personalities shining through in some of these photos.

I had them sit on a wood railing and Ethan kept shaking it. Riley thought she was going to fall off of it, hence the worried look on her face. The sweet girl is still trying to smile though.

Mia can be such a goofball! There's Riley smiling again.

Here's Ethan and his silly face. He did something similar in almost every picture.

Here are four pictures of Mia snapped really quick. I wanted to show what happens to her hair.

Doesn't she look annoyed?

He gets distracted easily.

Riley looks like a diva here.

Kelly told them to jump.

Mia must have a death-grip choke-hold. She always seemed to be in the middle and put her arms around Ethan and Riley.

Mia isn't as innocent as she looks...

Ethan and his silly face. Do you see Mia's hand around Riley's neck.

I told Ethan to open his eyes. Mia decided to help me.

Oh, Ethan. I should repay him with silly faces when it's time to take pictures of prom or his wedding. :)