...and then there were 5

Cancun part 2- Selah's 9 month pictures

2012-02-11T10:27:00.002-06:00

Cancun part 1

2012-02-10T14:38:00.001-06:00

We got back yesterday from Cancun.

it was amaaaaaaaaazing. Luckily I had two little girls that I missed terribly, or I may not have come home.
Everything went very well. Selah was great despite cutting 4 new teeth while we were gone. She didn't sleep well, but I'll take it considering the circumstances.
I'm posting a few of the pictures that I haven't/won't edit. I'll post more later of my edited pics, and also photos from Selah's 9 month photo shoot we did while we were down there.

We left early Monday morning, and our plane landed in Houston. We let Selah crawl around a bit since she had been cooped up in a plane seat. I had to grit my teeth as she crawled around the floor...you know me with germs and all...

When we got to Cancun I was so thrilled...everything was so green, and so fresh feeling. We hopped in a taxi van and headed to the hotel. We passed a guy with a surf board on top of his car, and then we passed a lady who was nursing her little baby in the front seat of the car as it was driving.

This is my kind of place- I thought.
Everything so laid back and easy. Loved it from the get-go.

Our hotel was so nice!
The room was like a little apartment.

Immediately upon arrival, we put on shorts and took a walk in the sand. Selah enjoyed it.

The water was so blue! I kept thinking if there is this vivid of colors on earth...heaven will be so wonderful.

The second day at the pool was the time of Selah's life. She laughed so hard at all of the splashes. I think this photo captures her joy quite nicely.

The last day, Selah fell asleep right on Matt's shoulder. So we went to lay on the beach chairs. Matt and Selah took a nap while I read. I enjoyed watching the people walk by and watching their expressions of admiration of a great daddy sleeping with his baby.

Excuse the look of complete exhaustion.
This was on the first night we were there. We ate at a little tiny joint. Food was great.

During the afternoon when Selah napped, we read on our hotel balcony.

One night, we dressed a little fancier than usual and ate at the hotel's nice restaurant.

Serenaded by a female mariachi band.

Outside of spending time on the beach, we took a taxi cab farther into the city to do some shopping at a market. We bought a few souvenirs and enjoyed looking around.

It was a fast 3 days, but a wonderful 3 days. No complaints at all. We are completely blessed to be able to take vacations like this. I am so thankful.

Riding home in the SNOW.... here is a pic of what Selah learned to do while we were gone. She sticks out her tongue now. Silly girl.

more pictures to come!

Over and Out

2012-02-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

I'll see you kids on the other side.

T-minus 48 hours until it's sunny vacation.

Pictures to come upon our return.

Over and Out

2012-01-29T16:18:00.000-06:00

Selah loves to look out the front door.

When I opened the door this afternoon to let in some fresh air, she squealed with delight and crawled as fast as she could to go look out.

Writing Letters

2012-01-29T16:16:00.000-06:00

Corinne loves to write letters.

I am thrilled that she likes to write letters, and I hope the desire keeps up. I think that writing letters has become "a thing of the past"...but the art shouldn't be lost.

She always writes the letters, and then asks me what to say, and how to spell words.
So I designed this little guide for her to pull out to give her suggestions on what to say.

I had it printed and laminated, so hopefully it will be durable enough to be around for a few years!

I plan on putting a hole in the corner, and then putting a ring in it to keep all of the cards together.

(Nina is Corinne's friend in Brazil that she writes to often.)

Other notecards give suggestions when writing a thank you note, and other greetings such as holidays.
I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out! I hope it will be put to good use!

Don't forget Zona

2012-01-16T20:28:00.000-06:00

This morning Corinne must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. She was in a bad mood from the moment she stepped out of her bedroom door. She was mad at the world and there wasn't anything that was changing that.

When i asked her why she was mad, she said she didn't like Audra anymore and she wanted to get rid of her.
Then she added, "and i want to get rid of mom! And I want to get rid of dad! And I want to get rid of Audra! And I want to get rid of Selah!"

And Audie, completely unphased by the whole thing calmly adds, "don't forget zona!"

Destination: Cancun

2012-01-10T12:30:00.001-06:00

One of the things Matt and I have in common is a love for the beach.

We've had such a mild winter this season, that I haven't really "hated" winter yet this year, as I typically do.

But it's around this time of year that I long for warmer weather.

Matt says that the one thing there is always money for is a vacation...I love that he likes to make memories like that. I have become more of a "home body" and don't like to travel so much, but one thing that is irresistible to me is the beach.

We researched beach vacations (Selah is accompanying us, Corinne and Aud are staying with Grandma) and came up with a trip to Cancun.

to leave in less than one month.

I don't have a current passport. We went to Mexico on our honeymoon, but that was before the laws were made about passports needed for re-entry back into the States from Mexico or Canada.

So we applied for mine, signed up to have it expedited and overnighted. All is well.

Talking about it to a friend, she says.."Will Selah need a passport too?"

Woopsie. We looked on the internet and come to find out that indeed she does need a passport.

Also, both parents have to be present to apply for the passport....probably so no whacko-parents try to take their kid out of the country without the other parent knowing about it.

So yesterday morning we went to have Selah's picture taken.

I stood in line at Kinko's for a good 20 minutes, then when it was my turn, I was turned away.

"We don't do infant passport photos. Our camera doesn't have a zoom."

Ummmmmmm, hello? I thought to myself. That's when you TAKE TWO STEPS IN!!!

I really wasn't happy at this point. But, what can ya do.

He sent me to Wal-mart.

I walked into the back of Wal-mart photo section, and no employees to be found. Of course!. I browsed electronics and came upon two employees who were chatting about that day's schedule...how "Danny should be called in because there is not enough workers today." and they were appalled that "Susie wasn't scheduled until 11:30".

Yeah, I see the problem.

After standing behind them for two minutes, they realized I was standing there. I asked if I could get some help in the photo department.

The lady was going on and on at how cute Selah was. That brightened my day a little bit.

Until it interfered with getting our passport picture taken!

All I could think about was the line at the post office, and how long it was going to take.

Hurry up lady! I've got places to go!

At this point, Matt started to hum the "these are the people of Wal-Mart" song from YouTube.

If you haven't seen it, you should...take a look HERE

After a few failed attempts at getting Selah to look at the camera, we came up with this

oh mah gaw. so cute I can't even stand it.

So we head to the post office. We get out of the car and Matt realizes he didn't bring the checkbook. A check is required to send off with the application.

So we drive back home.

Halfway there, we thought that we should have left Matt at the post office to stay in line, while we went to get the checkbook. Good thought!

We got the checkbook and headed back to the post office to get in line. 20 minutes into waiting in line, Audie has to go to the bathroom. Of course she does! It's getting funny at this point.

The post office has no bathroom, but there is a hotel down the road...but would I make it back in time Matt got to the front of the line to be able to sign for the passport app? I didn't want to take the risk.

I also didn't want to take the risk of a potty accident in the post office.

So I took Audie to the car. I pulled her panties down, and held a diaper under her crotch and told her to go.

***Mom of the year award***

she thought it was fun.

I was praying to heaven that we wouldn't have a leak.

We made it back inside and finally got to the front of the line. We did have all the required paperwork and documents to present. Phew!

We got it sent away...and now we have passport for Selah! She'll have proof of being a traveller she can brag about to her sisters several years from now.

And I can't wait to be on the beach.

Chicken Vindaloo

2012-01-09T14:21:00.007-06:00

I came across a recipe for chicken vindaloo in a crock pot. It got good reviews, so I decided to give it a try. I love recipes that you just dump into a crock pot and let it be! This one is one of those, and it's a keeper.

I added some things in making it, and I think it's more (if I remember my Indian food correctly) like a Tikka Masala than Vindaloo. But either way, it has the Indian essence and flavor.

Crock Pot Vindaloo
6 T vinegar
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 T fresh ginger
1 1/2 T Curry powder
1 T cumin
1 t cinnamon
1/2 cardamom
1/2 t ground cloves
2 T mustard powder
3 1/2 T olive oil
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, sliced
1 jalepeno seeded and chopped
4 small potatoes, cubed
2 pounds chicken breast cut into strips

Blend together all of the spices along with the vinegar into the olive oil, and pour into a crock pot. Add the crushed tomato to the mixture and stir to combine. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and add to the crock pot. Turn the chicken to cover with the sauce. Add the onion, and cover with the lid and cook on low for about 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked.

When the chicken is cooked, turn off the crock pot. Boil the potatoes in water for about 20 minutes, then add them to the crock pot, and stir to cover the potatoes in the sauce.

Ladle the vindaloo into bowls and sprinkle jalepeno pieces over the top

Serve with Naan, serves 4.

notes: this would work well served with rice. just omit the potatoes.

Since I make this for the girls, I add the jalepeno last, but if I were making it for just Matt and I, I would add a jalepeno, to the crockpot when cooking so the sauce would be spicy, since Indian food is typically very spicy.
Corinne, however, does like spicy food "if it comes with water"

This recipe has a lot of spices that you may not already have. There is an Indian spice called Garam Masala that contains Cinnamon, Cardamom, cloves, and other Indian spices. You could probably buy the one spice to avoid buying many of the ones listed above.

Saying Goodbye

2012-01-08T14:04:00.001-06:00

Not sure how to begin this post...

It is a positive and negative one.

I try to keep an optimistic outlook on things, as I typically am a pessimist.

My friend Trina, pictured below, left last Friday to move to Spokane. Her husband is in the Air Force and got a new assignment.

All I can say about Trina is that she has been the most incredible friend for the last 3 years. It was definitely in God's plan for us to meet, and every day for the last 3 years was blessed because of her.

I have never had a friend (the same age as me) that I have clicked with so well, and enjoyed being with so much. Trina was perfect for that in every way.

I could go on and on of how great she was/is, what kind of friend she was/is, but I don't think you would grasp the depth of my love and thankfulness for her. So I'll just leave it be, and Trina...you know. ;)

Trina and I on a dinner date before she left

Corinne and Audie had both come to love Trina (and her son, Wes) very much as well. I could not ask for a better role model for them. We all went to get frozen yogurt the day before she left so we could say our goodbyes.

When we got home, we walked in the door and Corinne turned around and looked at me, and then lost it and began to cry. I think she was holding in her emotions the entire time, and then couldn't hold them in any longer. I felt so sad for her, and hated the helpless feeling.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for both of us. Trina is irreplaceable as a (local) friend, but I believe if God takes something away, He replaces it with something better if He chooses to do so!

On another positive note, I have a friend that lives in Spokane. I really can picture the two just hitting it off...

They have exchanged information and will get in touch when Trina arrives in Spokane.

Then, I am hoping to go visit both of them later on this year in the spring!

Christmas

2012-01-02T17:07:00.000-06:00

I was really excited and anxious to do a Christmas post...
but then I sat down to upload pictures of our Christmas, and I only had like 5 pictures!

I guess in my mind I thought I had taken more of our morning... at least I meant to.

We woke up and let the girls open their stockings.
Then we took a little break to get dressed and eat breakfast, and then opened the rest of their presents.

a little sisterly love after some present sharing

"Dispicable Me" was the top gift this year.

We also spent some time with my aunt and uncle and cousins. (not to mention my favorite ones)
and also time with Matt's fam in KC.
It was a good Christmas this year!

This picture wasn't from Christmas, but wanted to post it anyway. This is the view I have going into the room when Selah wakes from her nap. Super cute.

Princess ShaSaySay

2011-12-24T13:55:00.001-06:00

CCC Quest (take 2)

2011-12-21T21:11:00.002-06:00

I made another batch of chocolate chip cookies this evening. I decided that I should use the same recipe, and tweak the recipe instead of switching recipes every time. If I started over every time with a new recipe, I may not be able to experiment as well with which ingredients did what. Make sense? Ok, let's move on.

The frustrating thing is that from the same batch of cookies, I had one round turn out as a soft and fluffy cookie. The other round was thin. Still soft, but it spread a lot more in the baking process. I dont know what happened.

I did two things differently this time. I was taught that when baking (bread) you are not supposed to dip your measuring cup into the flour bag. That packs the flour, and you end up with too much flour, making your bread very dense. For light and airy bread, you are supposed to spoon the flour from the bag into the measuring cup. I guess I assume that is the same for all baking?? I don't know. But anyway, this time I scooped the measuring cup into the flour bag....this obviously gets more flour...which could produce a taller, fluffier cookie.... But not so, since the second round of cookies were flatter.

The second thing is the bowl I mixed the ingredients in. There are certain types of metal bowls that are reactive to baking agents. When you use yeast, you have to use a non-reactive bowl, so your yeast will rise. My theory? That baking soda could react to the metal bowl, and cause the chemicals to not rise like they should. (purely just a theory...I didn't take chemistry in high school, so I could be talking complete nonsense.) So anyway, I used a glass bowl instead to mix the ingredients. Success on the first try, fail on the second try.

I did read in an article that baking soda and baking powder react right away when mixed with liquid ingredients. When you let your batter or dough sit, the chemicals don't react the way they should, resulting in a less adequate cake or cookie. How true this is-- again, I can't say. I'm no chemist.

I was happy with the first batch of cookies. (pictured above). I like the way they look, and the texture was great. For my taste preference, they could be a tad saltier (I like salty dough, and the sweetness in the chocolate chips)

Again, frustrating that I got two different results from the same batch of dough. I can't pinpoint what it is that was done differently. But, this time around was a step in the right direction--at least with the first round.

One other thought. The butter in the dough may be firmer for the first batch (due to not being so far into room temperature) and then stand up better (melt less, spread less) in the cookie dough.

Creepy drawings

2011-12-18T15:52:00.000-06:00

The girls go through paper as fast as the folks at Ryan's Steakhouse make it to the dessert bar after dinner.
They draw and draw and draw.
Then write letters and make me cards.
And then they draw some more.

Audie has developed an interesting way to draw people...

Personally, I think that these figures look like they will come off the page and come to life, running after you to take yours. They are though, very cute in their own sort of way. I also like how she distinctly draws straight hair and curly hair.

I love my life. Currently, I am listening to Matt play school with the girls. Audie is playing the teacher, "Miss Spankbottoms", Corinne is the student, "Charlotte", and they are seeing how loud they can yell the alphabet.
I sit back and smile when I see (and hear) life take place like this. I am one blessed mommy.

the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie

2011-12-11T16:11:00.001-06:00

Everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie. I know people have preferences of whether they like it crispy, chewy, cakey, etc, everyone loves a good cookie.

My preference for a chocolate chip cookie is, soft and chewy, with a very slight bit of crisp on the bottom. I like them pretty thick, with lots of chocolate chips. I like Subway"s cookies, but they are on the thin side. Remember The Great American Cookie Company in the food court at the mall? Superb flavor in a cookie, but they were loaded with Waaaaaaay to much icing, and were very greasy.

I am on a quest to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.
I understand the word "best" is relative, as people like different things in a cookie. But I want to find my "best". A girl in our Bible Study has a pretty good cookie. Closest I have ever come to perfect in taste, texture and appearance. She shared the recipe with me, but the cookie didn't turn out like hers do. She is doing something I'm not...
Last week I did some research. I may be getting in over my head with this, as there is so much chemistry involved in the baking. I researched baking soda, as opposed to baking powder. Oven temperatures. Shortening vs butter vs margarine. Whether to sift the flour, or scoop the flour. Oh sheesh, it's starting to overwhelm me just typing it.

I googled the words "best chocolate chip cookie" and several results came up, however, in doing a comparison, 5 out of 6 recipes I pulled up were exactly the same. Interestingly though, in reading the reviews of the recipe that was the same, the results were still different. Some peoples were flat, others were very cakey, some right in the middle. Well, I want to find out why some were flat and others were very cakey, and some right in the middle.

I tried the basic recipe, ending up with these:

How embarrassing.

The perfectionist in me didn't want to post this picture.

The flavor and texture of this cookie was great. But they were too flat.
I may try the recipe again, but raise the cooking temperature of the oven, and shorten the cooking time, to keep them from spreading so much.

Stay tuned for this adventure, as I'll keep you updated on my findings, and hopefully be able to one day share a recipe with you that has all the qualities of a great cookie.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-06T11:05:00.003-06:00

Christmas Card Outtakes

2011-12-02T14:43:00.001-06:00

I finished our 2011 Christmas Card this afternoon!

Phew! Feels good to have that out of the way.
We actually had 3 different photo sessions for this years card.
The first one was our fall family picture. However, I decided it wasn't "Christmasy" enough.
Then I had a better, more creative idea.
That fell through due to hungry girls. Forced Smiles and Crankiness were on the lunch menu that day.
So, we went with individual pictures, and I picked the best out of each of those.
Here are a few that I thought were cute, (some cuter than others...) but didn't make the cut.

Cowls

2011-12-01T13:50:00.001-06:00

Football season means knitting season for me.

On Sunday afternoons while Matt watches the Cheifs ~~lose~~ play, I crochet.
I am working on an afghan, but I needed a break from it, so I made these scarves/cowls.
They are Christmas gifts for some special friends of mine.

I am working on Christmas cards today! I can't believe it is December already!

6 years

2011-11-26T17:45:00.001-06:00

We celebrated 6 years of marriage today.

What do two krazy kats like us do on our anniversary?

Drop the girls off at Grandma's.

Have lunch at a new restaurant.

Go ice skating and hold hands like we're 13.

Happy Anniversary, Matt.

I"ve enjoyed every minute of this journey with you.

Good and bad, I'd do it again.

I love you.

My Lemon Butter Sauce recipe

2011-11-18T16:28:00.000-06:00

I had been craving some really good pasta.
I have made cream sauces before, but never wrote down a recipe. I had intended to add shrimp to this dish, but we got all the way through supper, and halfway through washing dishes before I realized I had forgot it!
I hung my head as I had thought about how good it would have been. Ah well. Next time!
Here's the cream sauce recipe.

Jenny's Lemon Butter Cream Sauce
1/2 an onion, minced
1/4 c butter
1T flour
1 1/2 T lemon juice. (I used the kind in the bottle. I'd bet fresh would be even better)
1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c milk
1/2 c chicken stock
1 t garlic powder
12 oz artichokes

1/2 lb shrimp (don't forget it!)
8 oz angel hair pasta, cooked

Saute the onions in about 1/2 T of Olive Oil. After a couple of minutes move the onions to the side of the pan. Add the butter to the saute pan, and when it melts, add the flour. Stir to incorporate the flour, it will be a thick paste. Add the heavy cream, the milk, and the chicken stock. Bring to a bubble, and reduce the heat. Stir the onions back into the sauce, then give it a taste...add the garlic powder, and salt and pepper until it tastes great to you. Add the artichokes and cook until they are warm.

Mix the sauce with cooked pasta, and top with cooked shrimp. (You can cook the shrimp previously to the onions...I will next time I do it. It would be good to try it blackened on the grill, too)

Serves 2

a video

2011-11-17T15:57:00.000-06:00

Here's the girls with the butterfly...
I have one more video to upload. But it takes like a million years.
So you'll have to wait.
Maybe like a million years.
Patience is a virtue.
For now, enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPJIU_7OT_Y

It's a......

2011-11-17T15:22:00.000-06:00

....butterfly!
Remember the "pet" we had a few weeks ago?
We discovered today it became a butterfly!

We went to clean the girls' room today. (room didn't get cleaned due to this distraction)
Audie said, "Corinne! You have a butterfly!"

I was so surprised. I was sure the little guy had died.
(guy? I mean...girl...I mean...whatever it is. It seems it should be a boy when it is a caterpillar, and a lady after it hatches. We'll refer to it as a boy caterpillar, and a lady butterfly. mmmkay?)
I had done my research and everything I read said it takes about two weeks for the change to happen. So it sat on the kitchen counter for two weeks. One week longer than I like things to sit on my counter.
I about gave up on it, cause I was tired of looking at it. I told Brenda (she had found the caterpillars for us) that I was going to "let it go." She told me to hold out. So I moved the jar to the girls room- and a few days later... TA_DAAAAA!!!
I'm so proud.

Totally wish we would have caught the emerging process to watch it, but that's okay!

She stayed still long enough for me to snap lots of pictures!
So beautiful.

Happenings...

2011-11-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

Not much going on in this neck of the woods.
(heck, I don't even know what day it is)
We have been a little under the weather since last Friday. No fun, but I think we are on the mend.

Selah is trying her hardest to crawl. She will get up on her hands and knees, but she can't get her hands to move forward to actually crawl. I hope she figures it out soon, cause it is starting to frustrate her. Poor little lamb.

School continues to go well. We have started to move at a quicker pace, as Corinne has seemed to get bored with the reinforcements. Really, she has the concepts down, but I felt like we needed to fulfill all of the curriculum worksheets. Instead, I am picking a choosing to keep things exciting and different. I just make sure she's got it before we fully move on.

That's all for now. The girls are summoning me to build a fort.

Selah is 6 months!

2011-11-02T14:51:00.001-05:00

Beware. Super cute baby butt ahead.

Selah is 6 months old today!
About a month ago, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact she would be 6 months, half a year old. Now that it is here, it seems more realistic, but still kinda weird.
I can't get enough of this little baby. I just have to squeeze her all the time.
We snapped a few (okay, more than a few) pics today.
These are my favorites!

A couple days ago, I told Matt I wanted to do the classic naked baby on a rug...

He said no baby butts.
But I did it anyway.

My mom crocheted this blanket for Selah. I love it, so I had to put in in a couple of pictures. Thanks, Ma!

some of the "everyday expressions"

...baby toes

my favorite face

Happy Birthday, Selah!

Happy Halloweeny!

2011-10-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

Weather tonight was mid 60's for trick or treating. We couldn't have asked for a better night for the girls to go get their fill of candy. Corinne was a ladybug, Audie was a tiger, and Selah was a mermaid. I was afraid the older girls would change their minds about what they wanted to dress up as, but they picked out what they wanted and stuck with it. They were pretty cute.

I made Corinne and Selah's costumes, and we ordered Audie's from ebay.

And of course, we had to go trick or treating at CD!!

Corinne was excited that her and Paree were both ladybugs.

Artists at large

2011-10-30T20:02:00.001-05:00

The girls had fun tonight in the tub. A little shaving cream mixed with food coloring makes a good medium for bath time painting.

Family Pics

2011-10-29T13:27:00.000-05:00

We have been long overdue for some family pics. The last picture we took of all 5 of us was when I was in a hospital bed hours after delivering Selah. It's crazy how the kids change so much, and it seems like even after a few months the picture is "outdated" due to changes in the kids appearances.

I think this was the fastest photo shoot I have ever been a part of. It was really like 5 minutes, max. It does drive me bonkers that I can't be the photographer of my own pictures, but what can ya do?
The photo below fits the bill of what we set out to do.

Sometimes I feel like I will look back and not be in any pics with my kids, since I am usually the one taking all of the pictures. So handing the camera off to a friend is nice.
Especially to be included in some of the candid photos below.

2011-10-26T13:56:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I had an incredible opportunity to be a part of a deployment homecoming.

My friend Trina asked me to photograph it. At first we thought it wasn't going to work out, due to the possibility of him coming home in the middle of the day, and not having someone to watch the girls.
But it was so cool to see everything work out in our favor, Matt was home the day Trevor returned home from overseas, and I was able to tag along to experience/photograph what happens.

It felt so weird to have the knowledge that soldiers/airmen are coming home daily from serving our country and no one even knows. Though it's not realistic, I felt like time should stop for everyone to acknowledge and applaud their service as they are coming off the plane.

This definitely changed my view of the process.

The picture above is one of my favorites...this was the first view Trina had of Trevor in 3 months.

This moment was so priceless. Wes laid his head down on his daddy's shoulder.

Follow the link to Trevor and Trina's blog post about this.
Trevor's descriptions are much funnier than mine. You're sure to enjoy it.
http://followourlife.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/homecoming/

Over the weekend

2011-10-25T19:51:00.002-05:00

We have had a great last 4 days. Matt had some vacation time to use up, so he was off work Monday and Tuesday. We had thoughts about "getting away", but were not able to find plane tickets cheap enough, and we weren't able to find someone to keep Corinne and Audra.

I'm glad we actually ended up staying home though, because we made some great memories as a family and got a lot accomplished around the house.

I decided to carry my camera around with us, and all of our excursions-

Here's what we did the last 4 days!

Our fence has been a horrid mess the last few months. The crazy wind has taken it's toll and we had to replace it. Matt rebuilt the fence door, with the help of Audie.

We have a new pet.
This pet is temporary, and unnamed- but we (okay, I guess only Matt and I) have been fascinated with it.

Our friend Brenda had found two caterpillars in her garden, and passed them along to Corinne and Audie. Audie's didn't make it, but Corinne's thrived, and made himself into a little cocoon! I remember watching this process in elementary school, but I guess as an adult I appreciate it a lot more.
Matt got a little bit of the cocoon making process on video, which I'll post later.

The little guy ate and ate and ate and ate...

and ate some more.

and this is him in his little cocoon!

I have really been into capturing "life's moments" on camera, instead of posed photography. You'll probably start to see a lot more pictures like this one:

Yesterday, we went bowling.
Yours truly:

more "life" pictures

I married him because of his nice butt.

I love the expressions Audie gives.

Little Selah took a nap, and then hung out in her carseat.

Among some of the other things we did, were some visits to some friends, some baking in the kitchen and carved a pumpkin.
Selah watched from her throne...

the final product!

2011-10-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

The girls got matching PJ's.
Cutest little girls if I ever saw any.

2011-10-10T21:45:00.001-05:00

Audra shows her love in a.... "different" sort of way.

It is an aggressive love.

Not sure how to explain it, but the video speaks for itself.
Unless you know Audie's personality, this probably won't appeal to you much.
Here ya go.

New Stuff

2011-10-07T11:11:00.002-05:00

A shout out to all my fellow cilantro lovers!

Last night I made quesedillas with cilantro pesto.

mmmmmmmmyummmmy!

I will share the "recipe" with you--however I put "recipe" in quotes because I never really "follow" recipes.

I dash here, add there, until the taste is right. I'll write down the gist of what went in, and you can make your adjustments to what tastes good to you.

Cilantro Pesto
2 cups packed cilantro
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1-2 jalepenos (again, adjust to how hot or mild you want it.)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 T lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Blend all of the above ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

This made enough to spread heavily on 3 quesedillas. It probably made about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. I spread it on a grilled tortilla, with grilled chicken, shredded cheese, and carmelized onions. It was very delish. I will make this again and put it on mexican pizza, or use it as a layer on 7 layer dip.

Some more new stuff...
Our living room has a new face!

My style has really changed over the last few years, and I had enough of the hunter green and beige walls. I love that this is a lot more bright and airy, eclectic, and not so traditional.

Yes, there is a cow skin hide/rug on my floor.
Haters will be haters.
I love it.

I painted this canvas...
I am NOT a painter.
But this was a fun afternoon project for me and the girls to do, and it was cheap! I had the canvas from way back when, collecting dust in my mom's basement closet. I used a little primer to cover up my middle school project, spent less than $10 on acrylic paint and voila!
I'm totally happy with it for what it is.

Things

2011-10-06T15:21:00.000-05:00

I know you all look at this blog for pictures of my super-cute kids.

Apologies I have not come through on that in the last several weeks.

This is the first week in MONTHS that my afternoons have been pretty low-key, enough to do "Jenny things", so I have taken advantage of that. It has been very nice to say the least.

Stay tuned, there are many 'o new pics on their way, and Matt has put together a video that I will post soon.

Until then, Enjoy a comic from last Sunday that I really enjoyed.

I don't typically like the comic strip "Family Circus". For me, it's too cutesy. But I liked this one, because it is exactly a perfect picture of my babies' daddy.

Click on it to enlarge it

Parenting

2011-09-20T19:17:00.001-05:00

Matt and I are perfect parents.

Okay, far from it.

We have both had our fare share of idiot parenting, and will continue to.

Luckily however, none of the idiot parent moments have been documented by photo as of yet.

Until then, enjoy these idiot parents.

(these pictures are from an email Matt sent me)

"Parent of the Year Award. And the nominees are..."

Over the weekend

2011-09-18T21:11:00.001-05:00

Every year, Matt's work provides discount tickets for the fun park here in town. We left Selah at grandma's and took the girls to ride the rides. Audie was only tall enough for two rides and a big slide. Below is the bee ride that she was able to ride by herself.

Audie's favorite was the carousel.

The big slide below was my favorite. It was really fast!

I like Corinne's smile in the picture below.

First Day of School!

2011-09-13T10:14:00.001-05:00

After the rough start to the morning, our first day of school was a success. Corinne was a diligent student, and anxious for more work. I hope that attitude continues! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her accomplish a lot of things, and I am happy we are giving this a try. I'll keep you updated on our year as time passes!

Picture Outtakes: first day of school

2011-09-13T10:11:00.000-05:00

It was a rough start to our first day of school.
Pictured below was Corinne's attitude.
Audie was behind me crying because she wanted to be in the picture.
Selah was inside crying because she was hungry.
I really wanted to start a tradition of taking the kids' pictures on their first day of school every year. I wasn't going to let this one slip through the cracks just because of a little mayhem.

A few forced smiles and bribes later, we were successful. Enjoy the outtakes.

Yesterday

2011-09-09T10:27:00.001-05:00

I asked Corinne what she wanted to do on her birthday. She gave ma a laundry list of things to do, and we did them. She had 6 people call her and wish her a happy birthday- for which she was very proud of.

Matt came home from work a tad early, and we let her open her gifts. She got perler beads and peg boards, and "Hungry Hippos" game.

Matt and I took her out to eat, leaving Audie and Selah at home with none other than beautiful Ali (thanks Al!). Corinne felt pretty special that she was able to go out with just us.

Look hard below...that piece of shrimp she was supposed to catch in her mouth bonked her right on the head.

Matt was the only one at our table that caught the shrimp...what a champ.

We had small group last night, so we celebrated the rest of her day with our friends. Corinne requested an ice cream cake, and of course, none other than a princess cake.
We sang happy birthday to her, and she did all she could to act "mature" and not smile, but it cracked. She liked the attention.

Next stop, first day of school!!!

Happy Birthday Corinne!

2011-09-07T11:34:00.004-05:00

Corinne turns 5 tomorrow. Sheesh. I've been a mom for 5 years??!! How/when did that happen??

I am so proud of Corinne. She has a maturity way beyond her years. She is my helper, she is an encourager, she is bright. I can't wait to see what the fifth year brings, and how she changes.

I love you, Corinne! Happy Birthday!

Since Monday was a holiday, and Matt had the day off, Corinne and I took her 5 year pictures on Monday. She did so incredible. She was patient, she came up with her own ideas of how she wanted to pose, etc. She's my little model!!
(you can tell the personality difference between her and Audie in the pictures. I love it.)

Matt and I have some fun stuff planned for tomorrow, her actual birthday. Stay tuned for pictures!

Selah is 4 months

2011-09-05T12:31:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Audie!

2011-08-27T20:16:00.007-05:00

My little Audie turned 3 today.
A little bittersweet.
A little weird.

Yesterday and today I was reminiscing of what I was doing 3 years ago.
Giving birth to my kids has been one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Period.
It is also so amazing to watch them grow up.
I would not laugh as much as I do if it weren't for Audra.
She reminds me of myself.
I love her spunk.
I love her.

We went out for a quick 3 year birthday shoot. I think I'm lucky to have gotten the pictures I did. She really wasn't in the greatest of moods, after a rough morning.
Still, she's a beautiful little girl, and I love to call her mine.

So expressive. She obviously gets it from her dad.

She was very ready to be done.

We had a small little party, both grandparents and Aunt Leslie, Cameron and Kylie came.
I made her a unicorn cake...purple, of course.

I think she had a great day. I love making my kids feel special, and I hope we did just that. She knew it was her day, but she was selfless about it. She shared her presents with Corinne, and was gracious all day. Love that girl.

Happenings

2011-08-19T14:16:00.006-05:00

I can't believe summer is coming to a close! We'll be celebrating the older girls' birthdays the next couple of weeks, and also starting Corinne in Kindergarten.
I have an almost 5 year old. Totally weird.
Here are some photos of what's been goin' on.

Below is one of my favorite views. A little baby butt in the air. I just want to squeeze
this every time I see it. Her little chunker legs are pretty cute too, if you ask me.

The weather has finally cooled off a bit in the evenings. We've spent many evenings at the park.

Last week we attended the wedding of one of my friends! Since we were dressed up and all that jazz, we took a few photos. The dress Corinne has on was my latest sewing project... I've been in a domestic mood lately. I'm working on crocheting a hat, and I think I am going to make Corinne a plaid pleated skirt for her first day of school.

And speaking of school, we are going to be starting school (homeschool) the Monday after Corinne turns 5. I have the first six weeks of lesson plans ready to go, and I am quite anxious and excited! I still need to make a few copies of some papers, and grab a few supplies for the craft projects we will be doing. But other than that, the curriculum is laid out and everything is in place! I never thought I would homeschool my kids. But at the same time, I am quite relieved! I don't think I would have been ready to send Corinne away to school this year. Time is flying waaaaaay to fast!

2011-08-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

We fed giraffes today.

Selah is 3 months!

2011-08-08T12:55:00.007-05:00

Selah turned 3 months old last week!
A few pictures were definitely needed for this occasion.

This weekend, It was just me and the 2 little girls. Matt went on his annual fl

oat trip, and Corinne joined Grandma and Grandpa in KC for the weekend.
While I missed them both, it was nice to have some quiet for a few days. I made Audie a new dress, and a few bows for the girls' hair. You'll see them in the pictures below.

While we're at it, let's do some of Audie too.

2011-08-02T14:27:00.002-05:00

I came across a link to a blog that is pretty funny.
give it a look.

http://crappypictures.typepad.com/crappy-pictures/

Apologies

2011-07-29T20:56:00.001-05:00

My sincere apologies... Matt just informed me that when I quoted "shut the front door" on an earlier post that that particular quote isn't very nice. Naive little me thought it just meant shut up, but I guess not!

Sorry if I offended anyone!
Sent from my iPhone

today

2011-07-29T14:50:00.003-05:00

I had the privilege of spending the morning with Tina (see previous post) before they leave for more travels. She shares a love of photography with me, so we thought it would be a great idea to photograph eachother with our kids...since we are always the ones taking the pictures:)

She did so great...I wanted to post a couple of pictures to give you a taste before I go through and edit the rest! I love the "peekaboo" here.

and my favorite of the day, from the ones that I took

Summer

2011-07-26T19:21:00.005-05:00

This has been an incredible summer. We have been better than ever, our little family of 5 is enjoying each other, and we couldn't be more blessed.
Here's a little of what we have been doing the last couple of weeks...

Our church had a pool party, and it was Selah's first trip to the pool! She turned heads in her pink swimsuit.
-----------------
Last week, we had a missionary family that we support over for dinner. I cannot begin to tell you how much of an encouragement they were. The wife, Tina, was so incredible- lively, energetic, encouraging, loving...I could go on and on. I had never met them before (Matt knew them from his church in KC), but we hit it off. It was crazy how alike Tina and I are. Same interests, same passions, we both married engineers... :) They are the kind of people you feel like you have known forever, and hope that you are as warm and as much of a blessing as they.

After dinner, we treated them to Orange Leaf!

Our girls, and their two kids, Madelynn and Ben played so well together. I wish we could be neighbors with them! They are so great.
-----------------------
...and some family fun washing the car.

2011-07-26T19:17:00.004-05:00

These images are from our friends' garden...

The beginning of a cucumber.

Thank you, Mr. Grasshopper, for posing for me.

Audie says...

2011-07-19T20:07:00.001-05:00

Audie: "I smell poop."

me: "Is it you?"
Audie: "No, it's you."

This, That, and a Lie

2011-07-11T14:46:00.003-05:00

So, I lied. I told you that I would have lots more 4th of July pictures, and I don't. I'm sorry and I know you all will forgive me.
I did get two pictures, both of which I never want my father to see. Him being a fireman, I would never hear the end of it with him knowing my kids lit fireworks...because we never did them as kids either, right dad?

4th of July was fun, we went to our friends' house and enjoyed bbq with our small group.

July 2nd came and went, and Selah turned 2 months!
Notice the double chin below? Selah is toppin' the charts in the 93rd percentile in her weight.
Even though most of that is brain, she is bigger than her other two sisters were at her age. Corinne and Audie were always under 10 percent. I"m interested to see how she will change the next couple of months.

We're getting plenty of smiles and coos from her!

and finally, a picture of me and Corinne. She wanted to do something special with me yesterday, and she suggested that we take a picture together.
Let me tell you, Corinne has turned into the sweetest little girl around. She is gentle and does everything she can to please. She follows me around everywhere...and I mean everywhere. But as she follows she helps me, and talks to me, and asks me questions.
I love my girls.

Weekend

2011-07-04T14:13:00.011-05:00

4th of July weekend isn't over yet, but I wanted to post several of the pictures from the weekend so far...
We went to see Matt's parents Friday and Saturday. The highlight of this trip was the swimming pool, complete with dives and waterslides!

I posted lots of pictures, because the progressions of these photos are hilarious. We go from thrill, to scare, to thrill again. All in a matter of seconds. Take a look--- You may want to click on each individual photo to see their expressions a little better.

ready, set, go!

still a lot of fun, but dad is giving me a wedgie!

I'm flying!

Splash!!

(blech, cough cough, blech)

(hack, cough cough)

then it was my turn

that was fun!

and on a rather icky note, Corinne smashed her finger in the car door. Good thing grandma Joyce is a nurse and works for a hand surgeon!! After a trip to see the doc, we found that she fractured her growth plate. She has been in a "cast" for the last week.

We bought purple finger nail polish to match the thumb that turned purple.

Stay tuned for more photos of the weekend, we are headed to our 4th of July party in a couple of hours. Until next time!

boots and umbrellas

2011-06-21T10:46:00.003-05:00

We got a good 20 minute storm yesterday evening. It made good puddles by the curb for the girls to play in.

Something totally weird happened this morning.
Background: Corinne is at VBS. Audie is here in the guest bedroom with me doing a puzzle. Selah is upstairs on my bed sleeping.
The monitor is just outside the guest bedroom, and I thought I heard a baby crying. So I stepped outside the room to put an ear to see if I heard right.
Then I heard "Da da!" in the monitor.
Okay, at this point I am totally creeped. Either Selah is a prodigy child and saying "da da", or a kid is in my house, and I can hear them talking through the monitor.
My heart is racing.
I listen some more, and then I hear a mom say, "brush your teeth!".
Our baby monitor is picking up someone else's monitor.
Phew! That scared me!
I listened in to be entertained for a while. :)

We'll be switching baby monitor channels. I sure don't want anyone eaves dropping on our conversations!!

2011-06-16T14:24:00.004-05:00

Shut the front door!
Are my girls cute, or are they cute?

Okay, so maybe I am a little biased. But still, you can't argue that these are some of the prettiest girls around.
The thought of getting a great picture really challenges me, and I can't shoot enough pictures. A little bribing with some ice cream, and the girls cooperate for a bit to allow me to get some shots of them. I love it!

Cheeky

2011-06-14T16:24:00.002-05:00

Names have been left out to protect the indecent...

She gets herself dressed these days.
Maybe she is trying to start a new trend of a "one piece thong".

Look Ma! No Training wheels!

2011-06-08T15:13:00.005-05:00

Corinne has been working towards riding her bike without training wheels. After several weeks of her riding with just one training wheel, I thought that we needed to remove the other and let her crash and burn a few times. She was relying too much on the one wheel. We removed the wheel and she got the hang of it pretty quick. We just needed to build the confidence!

By the 2nd evening she had it down.

A pretty proud girl.

...and I have a new recipe for y'all!
I haven't cooked in a long time...by "cook" I mean actually take time to prepare a meal. We have had a lot of quick and easy meals lately. Last night I was in the mood to have something good, so I worked out inventing a new recipe. There is nothing new about fish tacos, but here is the version I came up with!

Fish Tacos

1 1/2 lbs white fish...I used tilapia
1/4 head of red cabbage sliced thin

1/4 red onion, minced

1 tomato, chopped

3/4 cup mayo

1 heaping Tablespoon of dill pickle relish

1 Lime (or more for serving)

1 Lemon

Salt and Pepper

white corn tortillas

Season the cabbage, onion, and tomato with salt and pepper. Squeeze a bit of lime juice over the top. Set aside

Mix together the mayo, pickle relish, and the juice of one lime. Set to meld in the fridge.

Sprinkle the fish with Salt pepper, and juice from the lemon. Grill for 10(ish??) minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Then slice into strips.
(the fish would be good fried too)

Warm the tortillas, then to serve-- slap on with a few pieces of fish, the cabbage mixture, and drizzle generously with the sauce.

ooooohhh baby these were good.

1 month

2011-06-02T11:10:00.002-05:00

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Selah!

A kiss for the Englishman

2011-06-01T15:06:00.001-05:00

This picture melts my heart.

Some friends from our past came over last night. Rodney and Joyce are the kind of friends that you pick up right where you left off, and after they leave, you feel blessed and refreshed.
Audie took a liking to Rodney and kissed him on the cheek before they left. I took this picture on my camera phone, I wish I would have had my real camera handy...but this will do. :)

Audie says...

2011-06-01T09:04:00.003-05:00

Last night Matt and I came upstairs to go to bed. I turned on the bathroom light which revealed that Audie had climbed into our bed. As the light came on, she sat up and squinted with a slight smirk across her mouth "pretending" she had just woke up and didn't know what was going on.

Matt picked her up and told her she needed to go back to her bed, and started carrying her to her room to which she replied:

"But my bed is too lumpy!"

Our Life Lately

2011-05-29T13:16:00.004-05:00

Things have been going pretty good around these parts. We've adjusted to life with a newborn and are happily a family of 5.
Some exciting news....I purchased a new camera! I am totally pleased with it and hope to challenge myself and better myself as a photographer. (if I am allowed to call myself that. :] )

Last night we had friends over for dinner... I took a few pictures of some of the ingredients used in the meal...

a basil plant from my garden. The dessert I made was angel food cake, berries on top of that, then a layer of cool whip, followed by lemon zest and minced basil. Sounds a little crazy, but you must try it. Basil and lemon zest were awesome with the berries. A zingy, cool and refreshing bit of aftertaste.

Then we went outside to play.

My most favoritest friend on the planet. She didn't really shoot me...she's too nice.

The guns in the above picture shoot out little plastic balls. For $5 at Wal-mart, they were well worth the purchase as they have gotten used a lot!

Selah hung out with Keenan...

Selah ended up fuzzy in this picture :(, but she looked so pretty I had to post it anyway.

And last but not least beautiful Ali. What a great girl she is, I just love her.

Looking forward to the rest of the weekend, Matt has Monday off!
until next time...

Big sister feeding Selah

2011-05-24T18:49:00.001-05:00

Phillip and Selah

2011-05-23T09:06:00.001-05:00

I cant believe it! I used to babysit for Phillip when he was a baby and now he is holding my baby!

It's amazing how time flies. Phillip came and sat on my couch and spoke with such intellect and maturity. I am so impressed with him, his younger brother, and his older sister. They all work very hard in school, they are responsible, kind, and respectful. Very proud of these kids, and happy to be a part of their lives!
Sent from my iPhone

Painted baby toes

2011-05-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

Selah's Newborn Pics

2011-05-11T11:19:00.002-05:00

Here are the latest pictures of my little princess!
Enjoy!

And congrats to my friend Lauren, who won the contest! Her vote was May 2nd, a baby girl, and 6:05 pm. Her vote was the closest, being only about 3 hours off! Good job, Lauren, enjoy your Starbucks drinks!! :)

Mothers Day

2011-05-09T11:06:00.002-05:00

Mother's Day was great for me. Matt had the girls put together some pictures and cards for me, with a couple of gifts. Corinne was so excited about it, and made me feel special.
After going to church, we spent the afternoon at my mom and dad's with my sister and her family.

A pic with my mom and my girls. My grandma died 12 years ago today. I hope that if it's possible for her to look down from heaven, that she is proud of the legacy that has come after her! (We named Selah Violet after her....her name was Violet.)

I was hoping to have more pictures of Selah posted by now, but let's face it. My time for things has run short. I try to take advantage of cleaning etc while Selah naps, and blogging and other fun things may not happen as much as I'd like. All in all though, things are great and I love my little family!

Selah!

2011-05-05T18:53:00.001-05:00

Easter, Birthday Parties, and Lack of Labor

2011-04-28T14:33:00.003-05:00

We had a great Easter weekend. Everything was low key and relaxed. Our church hosted an Easter egg hunt, the girls had tons of fun at that. It was pretty chilly that Saturday morning, and being out there for several hours made me feel miserable. Matt was awesome and said I could go get a pedicure, and I relaxed quite well after that.

Sunday morning we went to church, then came home and took a few pictures with the girls in their Easter outfits.

I asked Matt what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said "something sports related" So I put together a little surprise party. We had the people from our small group come over...we had nachos (of course) and played dodgeball in the backyard.

Ashley totally rocked the game! I was so impressed that she got out there and played hardcore with the boys. (in boots, too!)

I think Matt had a good time. This is the last year of his twenties!! Yikes!

And in baby news: Well, there is nothing to report. I have had contractions, but nothing to make me progress into labor. I do still have a week til I am due, so I need to quit fretting about it and just wait it out. Still, I am excited to meet my baby! Hopefully the next post will be news of an arrival :).
Until Next time!

Maternity Pictures

2011-04-17T20:00:00.002-05:00

This afternoon we went out and took a few belly shots. My mother has been hounding me about needing these pictures for the baby book, so.... that's what we did.
I have to say: Ma, you do a lot of things very well. But photography ain't one of 'em.

Granted, trying to get two kids to look into a camera is NOT easy, I got frustrated VERY quickly, and it was QUITE windy. So, I'll give it to you that you didn't do too bad of a job considering the conditions. Thank you mother, for not taking pictures of the lady walking her dog, the squirrels in the street, or that beautiful fountain in the lake. (those of you who have browsed through my mom's pictures will know exactly what I am talking about)
I think there is at least one good one for the baby book, here are the best ones.

Don't forget to put in your vote as to when you think the baby will be born! Sex, Date, and time!

Baby Room Finished Spoiler Alert*

2011-04-13T16:39:00.007-05:00

Skip over this post if you want to see the baby room in person! Obviously colors vary from camera to computer monitor, and if you want the full effect, stop by to see this greatness!!

If you remember a while back I posted that my friend Trina asked to design the baby room. I let her have at it, as it was something I wouldn't have to think about! I chose a few colors, gave her a direction, and she did the rest. I am thrilled, she did an incredible job.

This is the sign I have looked at for a little over a month.
Besides a few slips of colors here and there by Corinne, the room was a total surprise to me, and totally worth the wait!

Ready?! Here it is!!!!

Trina converted this light fixture from a lantern! How cool! One of my favorite things in the room.

I was able to have a hand in helping with the room...I made the bumper, and re-covered the rocking chair cushions.

The prints are special gifts from Trina and Mary

Recognize the above painting? It's Trina's artwork from our girls night out/baby shower.

Thanks Les and Jon for giving us your old changing table!!

This post would not be complete without me talking about Mary (pictured left). Mary is Trina's sister in law, living here for a year while she waits on her schooling program to start. Mary has been such a friend to us, the girls love her, and we are blessed to know her. She put in MAJOR man hours in the baby room, and can't express enough how thankful I am in all she did to help Trina get this together! She did the yucky stuff too....sanding, and painting...
Thanks so much for all of your hard work, Mary. I can't wait to introduce our baby to you. We love you!

Great work Trina. I really don't have the words to describe how much this means. Hopefully my reaction said it all :) Love ya.

Final girl or boy touches will come after we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl-- to complete the room's "femininity" or "masculinity".

Now all that's missin' is a baby!!!

Swim lessons

2011-04-08T16:46:00.000-05:00

Corinne right before her first swimming lesson. She was so excited and asked me all day if it was time for her to go.

Photographing Bees

2011-04-06T20:05:00.005-05:00

I had a very cool experience this evening...photographing bees. Friends of ours are starting their own bee farm...uhh, raising bees...uhh, becoming bee keepers?...whatever you call it! They asked me to take pictures of them putting the bees into the hives. (some 20,000 bees were ordered)

But it was very cool, and the process was very interesting. The queen had to be retrieved from the "make-shift" hive, and placed in her new home. Then through a process, the rest of the colony was dumped out into it's new home. Believe it or not, only one bee sting happened (besides Charlie the dog getting stung).
This will be a post with A LOT of pictures, I actually took over 200 photos, but here are my favorites.
**click on some of the pictures to enlarge them- the pictures posted as is are too small to appreciate the detail!**

This jar of honey is not part of their bees, but it was on the counter and I thought it looked cool. And my sweet little Audie is in the photo too :)

Pretty cool! It was fun to take pictures of an event that doesn't happen every day!

one month!

2011-04-05T15:04:00.003-05:00

Today is April 5th! This marks the one month countdown to our due date!

So let's have a little fun! Leave a comment with what you think the baby's sex is, what day he/she will be born, and the time he/she will arrive. I'll keep track of all the "votes" and the person that is the closest will win something fun...a Starbucks gift card or something.

I'll announce the winner post baby's birth!

a diaper shower and girls night out

2011-03-31T10:11:00.003-05:00

Let me just say, these girls are the greatest. My friends Lauren and Trina wanted to throw me a baby shower...I refused it since it's the third kid, but they insisted. So we made a girls night of it and had an evening out. We went to an awesome place where you are given step by step instructions to painting on a canvas, the picture of your choice. Everything is set up and provided when you get there, you paint, and you go home! The girls brought finger foods and drinks, everything so was so fun and perfect.

Me and Trina both realized that after all this time we didn't even have a picture together! Well, here was our first one....I think we'll need a re-take post baby. One that's more of a "keeper".
And now, you can put a face to the name of the one who is designing and decorating our baby room!

Lauren and Shelby

See how cool the place is? Everything is set up and provided. Such a fun experience! I definitely want to go back.

I had to get an artistic picture....

And here's the group picture with all of our variations!

Happenings...

2011-03-21T15:40:00.001-05:00

I can't believe March is almost over. This month has flown by very quickly. I don't mind, the faster time flies, the faster I get to see our little baby!
We have been doing some house projects. Matt started to paint the outside of our house...we started last fall but it turned cold too quickly to finish. Looking forward to the house looking fresh. I am hoping we will finish before the baby arrives...we should be able to...any takers on helping out? ;)

Last fall we killed a bunch of weeds in our yard, so yesterday we reseeded. I hope the grass will grow in nicely! Watering it is like taking care of a baby...keeping it moist, but not too moist, watching it carefully...

Trina has begun work on the baby room. The door is closed, and I have not seen it except for a few remnants of paint color that were on Audie's finger from brushing up against the wall. Trina assured me that there was another color, and I would still be surprised. Looking forward to the final product.

Our baby is named! We have come to a conclusion on both a boys and girls name. Phew! I am relieved!

Six and a half more weeks to go until we meet the little one! I am quite ready. My belly is plenty big, and I am plenty tired of being preggo. The six weeks are fine though, I have quite a long list of things to accomplish before there is another addition.

And finally, and little picture of Audie...cause what is a blog post without a picture?

until next time!

Audie says...

2011-03-15T13:56:00.002-05:00

Today in a store a nice lady said to Audie
"You're such a cutie!"

Audie replied rudely:
"I'm NOT a kitty!"

I told Audie the lady had called her a "cutie", instead of "kitty" and tried to get Audie to say thank you. She didn't. I apologized to the lady for my daughters attitude, luckily she found the situation humorous.

Corinne's artistry

2011-03-04T13:31:00.000-06:00

This a picture Corinne drew of me. Totally pleased she made my belly button evident in the drawing.

spring cleaning and an update

2011-03-02T15:06:00.002-06:00

It's March, that means it's time for spring cleaning for me! It always feels so good to be able to open the windows and dust, vacuum the baseboards, etc. I usually do it over a week or two's time, one room a day so I don't get overwhelmed! But it's perfect timing for my nesting phase too, while I don't feel like I need to "nest", I am still making accomplishments for our home to be ready for the new one!

I started with our master bedroom and ended up doing a little mini update to the room. We had a Ficus tree in one of the corners, and my friend Trina (the interior decorator) reminded me that the tree was outdated, and our bedroom wasn't "me". I agreed with her, so decided to get rid of the tree.

Several weeks ago the fitted sheet on our bed got a small hole in it...I put off buying new sheets as they are not cheap! Well, the hole got bigger and bigger and bigger, and it was time to bite the bullet to get new sheets!

So we purchased new sheets, and I made these little terrariums to hang from the ceiling in place of the tree. I am so happy with the little terrariums, I filled 4 of them with "air plants" and the other 3 with ferns. And best of all, the entire project was less than $35 bucks!

I also bought two new throw pillows from Wal-Mart with a gift card I had from Christmas.

No major changes, but a nice update, and I love the feeling of a clean room, new sheets, and
de-cluttered!

What's in a name?

2011-02-24T16:57:00.003-06:00

I'm getting a little on edge.

My baby is not named.

We have a boys name picked out, but not a girls name- and I'm getting a little concerned. I've browsed page after page of baby name books and websites, and nothing just jumps at me.

Matt doesn't seem to be too concerned. Maybe he knows something I dont. Maybe he knows it's a boy, so he's not worried about a girls name. I hope he didn't cheat...

I happen to like names that aren't popular. Ones that are on the bottom of the popularity chart. I like the idea of Corinne being the only "Corinne" most people will probably know. Same with Audie. It's memorable. It's unique. So to find a name that's not at the top of everyone's list, but not super-weird is tough to do.

I thought of a name today that I really LOVE... it's too crazy for a first name, but beautiful for a middle name. Now just to run it by Matt and see what he thinks. My hopes aren't high.

Now, on the flip side. I'd hate to have this beautiful/cool/unique/awesome/pretty name picked out for a girl, and then it be a boy. Same goes for our boy name. It's really cool, and I'll be slightly disappointed if I don't get to use it.

Sheesh.

This would all be easier if I'd just open that stinkin' envelope.

Nah, the surprise is fun. I'll continue to scroll through those pages of baby names. And still, Matt and I's agreement was that he couldn't look in the envelope until we had both a boy and a girl name picked out. He doesn't seem to be in any hurry, but when is Matt in a hurry?

Special delivery

2011-02-22T14:19:00.000-06:00

Having flowers delivered and being surprised may just be one of the greatest things on earth! Matt is gone to Mexico for work and had these flowers sent! Made my day, and will make my week better when I look at them!

2011-02-20T19:15:00.001-06:00

Kylie loves her big cousin.

Valentine granola bars

2011-02-13T15:23:00.000-06:00

Audie says...

2011-02-10T15:17:00.001-06:00

Last night Audie said:
"Mom, what's taking so long for your baby to come out?"

Knock it off Napoleon and make yourself a dang quesadilla!

2011-02-09T09:28:00.001-06:00

This is the leftovers of the yummy dessert I made last night! Chocolate quesedillas! Fried up a tortilla filled with chocolate, sprinkled with cinnamon, chili powder, and a touch of salt. Chocolate sauce and ice cream on top! Yummy!

Baby's room

2011-02-08T18:19:00.001-06:00

We are still getting things rearranged around the house. There are a few more things to do before the girls room is finished, but the crib is moved out and Audie is in a regular bed.

My friend Trina, who is an awesome interior designer asked if she could decorate the baby's room for me. I quickly said yes!! It totally takes a load off my shoulders and puts my mind at ease with not having to worry about what to do in that room.

I went through her box of Sherwin Williams paint chips (every color under the sun) and gave her a few choices of a color direction, and the rest is her free reign! She is having me do a few sewing projects for the room, so technically I still have a hand in putting it together.

The picture above is part of a fabric she has picked out for me to re cover the rocking chair with. I absolutely love it! I would have walked right past this in the fabric store as I usually go for colors that are dark. The actual background color of this is a "celery green". It is so light and fresh, and perfect for a baby's room! I am quite excited about it.

The best part of this is the element of surprise. We have agreed that once she gets started, that room will stay closed until it is finished! She will add boy or girl touches while we are at the hospital.

Can't wait to see this room put together, can't wait to have a room in the house that has someone else's name to it (a name of style i trust :) ), and can't wait to have the baby in it! I am so blessed by my friend Trina, she truly is a gift from God! The past year of knowing her has been such a blessing and I"m happy to have her in my life.

2011-02-01T13:12:00.004-06:00

Some friends in PA mailed the girls super cute shirts for Valentines Day. I planned on taking some pictures of the girls in the new outfits and then framing and mailing them back. So much for that idea. Corinne didn't want to be in any pictures with Audie.
I tried praises.
I tried bribes.

I tried discipline.
She wouldn't participate.
Audie did a great job though! There were a few good ones of her, this one below is my favorite.

I'm so glad it is February 1st! We'll probably be doing some Valentine craft projects this week since we are snowed in!! But February seems like the downward slope of time passing quickly into spring. I like February.

over and out!

Audie and chopsticks

2011-01-31T13:16:00.000-06:00

I have set up our blog account to be able to blog from my phone. This will allow me to post more often about the little things we do! Here is a picture from our lunch outing last week.

2011-01-31T13:11:00.000-06:00

We went to visit Kylie today. The hair on top of her head is curly like mine!

self portrait

2011-01-27T09:35:00.003-06:00

Last night I played around with some "self portraits". Now you all can see the view I have!

I took the photos below with my fisheye lens attachment. I thought they turned out kinda cool.

There is just a little more than 3 more months to go! I am still feeling pretty good and am thankful everything has gone so smoothly. We still don't have names set in stone, but thinking about taking 2 or 3 names to the hospital and seeing which name fits the face best after we see the baby.

Guest Room/Computer Room

2011-01-27T09:30:00.002-06:00

Here are the (mostly) final pictures of the new room. Everything is good to go for the time being, however there is still one blank wall that may be filled if I ever find a picture that I like to hang there. I'm happy with how it turned out!

The computer and desk/office items will be hidden in this cabinet.

a haircut

2011-01-24T09:06:00.003-06:00

Last night I took Audie to have her first "official" haircut. I have trimmed scraggley pieces of hair here and there, but it was time to hand it over to the professionals. Long gone are the days of her looking like a little ragamuffin.
Audie was very quiet and serious during the whole process. But she did great!
Stupidly, I didn't take a before and after picture! But it's okay, you aren't missing a whole lot. She really looks the same, just cleaned up a bit.
Here are some pics of the process.

i heart faces

2011-01-24T08:51:00.003-06:00

One of the blog/websites I follow regularly is Iheartfaces.com Every week they have a photo competition, and this week's challenge is called "Innocent Wonder". I remembered this picture back from when Audie was born and thought it would be a great picture to enter!

I have a niece!!

2011-01-13T15:49:00.001-06:00

My new little niece was born last Monday!
Kylie Kathleen entered this world on a very snowy day!
Congrats Leslie and Jon!

2011-01-09T14:49:00.003-06:00

I have been wavering back and forth on how much I want to pursue photography. I really have come to enjoy it. I have had a lot of "jobs" in the last couple of months that are strictly from "word of mouth", and I have started to consider whether or not I want to make this a business. Anywho, those thoughts aside, here are some photos I took from a maternity session yesterday. I am posting these to get feedback from YOU on whether or not you enjoy seeing pictures of strangers, or if you would like to keep this blog "family stuff" only. I have gone back and forth of whether to start a photo blog that would strictly be for pictures I have taken. So, since you all are my readers, what do you think? Here? or a separate photo blog?
Leave a comment and let me know!!

2011-01-09T08:53:00.002-06:00

The other day I noticed Corinne had put some stickers on her doll house. Then I looked a little closer and they were house numbers. This may be one of those things that only the mom of the kid can appreciate, but I thought it was very clever and cute.

delimmas

2011-01-05T13:10:00.003-06:00

I am in a war every day trying to have self control over what I am eating.
I want the brownie...
I want the second helping...
I want the 9:00pm junk food snack
vs.
eating a banana.
being satisfied with one serving of dinner.
avoiding thinking about being hungry at 9pm.

Don't get me wrong, I love a freshly turned yellow banana. But when it is sitting there right beside the soft pretzel Corinne and I baked the other day (not to mention the melty cheese that has to go with it), you're darn right that I'd rather have the pretzel.

When I go to the grocery store I want to give myself (and my family) plenty of healthy options. Last night I went and I loaded up on apples, grapes, cherries, bananas, and kiwi fruit (which Corinne tried and LOVES, success!).
But I also bought a box of brownie mix. And funfetti cake mix.
Don't judge! You can't argue how pretty that cake looks on the front of that box with all of the sparkly colors in the mix.

Last night I sauteed bananas and served it over a little bit of ice cream. It was just enough sweet to satisfy feeling like I was having dessert, but I felt good that I was getting a serving of fruit at the same time. But still, I am in this constant battle of resisting that cookie, or saying no to that piece of chocolate. After all, I don't need it, I just WANT it.

I really didn't have this problem with sweets until I became pregnant with Corinne. I craved chocolate cake with her and it's been downhill from there. Maybe I should invent some recipes that have a wee bit of chocolate in them to satisfy the sweet, but have a health value. There we go, now we're on to something!

Christmas 2010 and a project update

2011-01-02T19:29:00.003-06:00

Christmas was quite enjoyable this year. After a little celebration at my mom and dad's on Christmas eve, we had a lazy relaxing day on Christmas at home. We woke up, I made some pancakes for breakfast, and then we let the girls open their presents. The rest of the day consisted of playing with the toys, a movie, and then dinner out with my mom. I didn't do a real good job of having the camera out this Christmas season, so there are not many pictures.

After church on Sunday, we headed to KC to be with Matt's family for a few days. We had fun there and we even got to eat at Chic-fil-A! Yay!
After coming back and settling down a bit, John and Suz, Nick and Kara, my uncle, aunt and cousins came to celebrate New Years with us. We had a good time playing board games, Wii bowling, and visiting. We always enjoy their company as they are easy going and fun to be with! I look forward to time with them every year.
----------------------------------------------------
When we were in Nebraska this last fall, my uncle was working on cleaning out my grandpa's storage shed. My grandpa used to be an awesome craftsman and make everything from clocks to rocking horses to tables. There were about 5 planks of walnut wood in the storage shed that I really wanted to have! I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but I think it's cool to have that little bit of "legacy", so we hauled it back with us.
Last year when I went to Seattle with Matt, I saw this cool fire place in an Anthropologie Store:
I really fell in love with it and stowed it away in the back of my mind to try to mimic in our house if/when we ever had the right house for it.
But I thought I would be able to use this wood from my grandpa to make something similar. I decided to make it into a headboard. I had the wood planed and cut into varying strips, hoping for the best since I didn't really have a plan.(side note: Matt informed me yesterday that I am a "picture person". I see something I like, and expect it to be done somehow, and in someway. He told me that there is "more to projects and building than just thinking something will puzzle piece together easily." Ok, yeah, whatever. That's why I married the engineer, I suppose....so he can do these things for me.)
Anyway, I brought my pieces of wood into the basement and did some measuring of how wide and tall I would want this headboard to be.

After doing a general measurement, I went back out to the garage and found some OSB, penciled the measurments on the OSB, and got out Matt's Skil saw. I sad a prayer, and began cutting.

Success!!
Ali was there to help me carry the big piece back in and we began laying out the pieces of the walnut onto the OSB.

We kept going in rows, exchanging pieces around here and there until it fit right. There obviously was some overhang, but I knew I could cut those pieces off at the end.

Amazingly, we got all the pieces to fit perfectly from top to bottom, with one plank of wood left to spare! We then went back and glued each plank on the OSB with gorilla glue and waited for it to dry.We then carried the project to the ping pong table so we could cut off the overhang on each side. And I made a big boo boo. I didn't keep the saw straight and sawed towards the middle of the headboard. Luckily, I caught what I was doing and only went into the headboard by about an inch. Luckily, it was totally salvageable! At that point I called in the expert (our good friend Jeff) and he came and made the repair for me cutting the end in a straight line. Phew!

A few days later, Ali came back with Amanda to help me put the finishing touches on the headboard. Some edging, and polyurethane to bring out the beautiful walnut color!!
I just love these girls!!

And here is the finished project!! It isn't hung on the wall yet, for now it is just resting on top of the bed frame. It will actually hang higher on the wall for more wood to be exposed.
I am so pleased with how it turned out! And I love that I was able to take some of my grandpa's wood and make it into something that I can keep as long as I am on this earth. I hope he will be proud of me.

I do have to say that these pictures don't do the color of this wood justice. The color is much more deep and dark...I guess that's what you get with florescent lighting and an unedited picture.

I will post more pictures (and better ones) when the room is completely finished. I can't show you the entire room yet, as I am still waiting on an accent chair and picture for the wall to be delivered via Fedex. I also need to have Matt's dad help me install two sconces that will hang over the headboard. They are coming here in a few weeks, so after that I will show you the entire room.

And to finish off this long post, a picture of my sweet Audie in the skirt she wears nearly every day.

2010-12-29T08:35:00.003-06:00

Christmas is over...one tree taken down, one tree to go. It seems we were just putting them up!!!

New pictures to come soon. Matt is off the whole week, so I am doing lots of projects around the house. We are making the switch of moving the computer/office downstairs, so pictures of that and Christmas to come soon.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T08:20:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas from the 5 of us!

25 Things I Love About My Wife (In No Particular Order)

2010-12-19T18:17:00.003-06:00

1. Is one great cook. She feeds me well, and can master what she puts her mind to and isn't afraid to try new things.

2. Likes the unique. She appreciates things out of the ordinary that other people may not look twice at.

3. Loves giving gifts. I see her baking something for someone all the time.

4. Keeps our house in order

5. Is a great hostess and loves having others over and opening up our home.

6. Loves a nerd even when he's really nerdy.

7. A great mom, she really loves our kids and is built as one of the best stay-at-home moms

8. Is a Survivor and The Office fan and will watch the shows with me

9. Uses her musical talents for Christ

10. Isn't afraid to speak up and give her opinion on something

11. Makes it easy for me to know where to take her out to eat, (Outback of course!)

12. Is one hot mama! I married way out of my league and she's a 10 in my book.

13. Has developed into a great photographer, just has that natural ability and eye for a good shot.

14. Has some very cute curly hair.

15. She knows how to sew! She's made some awesome things for herself and the girls, and some great halloween costumes.

16. She is dedicated and committed to what she says she's going to do. You can count on her to be somewhere if she says she will be there.

17. She is the fastest texter I know

18. She does all the grocery and clothes shopping, the two things I most dread!

19. Is very conscious of finances and will be content with what she has, will shop thrifty, and use coupons!

20. Is such a trooper when I'm sick and takes great care of me and the girls.

21. Have you seen a cuter pregnant woman?

22. Will ask for a late night snack, and allows me to justify a shake at 9:00 at night

23. She makes sassy cool.

24. She loves me for who I am, or in spite of what I do may be a better description.

25. She keeps up a great blog so all our family and friends can keep up with us!

~Matt

Non existent Normal

2010-12-17T08:19:00.002-06:00

Oh. My. Stars. This week is beyond crazy and a week that makes me thankful that weeks like this don't repeat themselves that often. Last week, Audie came down with the flu. She got better after 24 hours, and after 4 days of the rest of us not getting it, I thought we were in the clear. But I was wrong. Both Corinne and I got the flu on Sunday.
Monday morning Matt started in with the stomach pains, he thought it was the flu too. But his stomach pains didn't go away. After 6 hours of the pain and tenderness in his stomach, he decided to take himself to the ER as he didn't think he had just the flu.
I felt so bad for him driving himself...and going by himself, but I knew I did not have the strength and energy to help him and contain the girls in the waiting room of a hospital. We figured he could go get it checked out and I'd join him after I found a babysitter that afternoon.

He texted me a bit later telling me he was going in for a scan.

He texted me a bit after that telling me he would be having surgery later that day to have his appendix removed.

I pulled myself together and found all the strength I had in me to get the girls put together to go to grandmas so I could join Matt at the hospital.

I arrived right when he got out of surgery and had to wait for him to recover. It was good for me to have an hour or so by myself to kind of get my thoughts processed and let reality hit me. Being tired and hungry and weak was not a good combination, but I was too nervous to eat.

The surgery went well, and he was in the hospital over night. We are glad he decided to get it looked at when he did, it could have been much worse.

Still not feeling the best the day after his surgery, I decided I needed some help and we called Matt's mom to come stay with us for a couple of days to help out with the girls. She was here that afternoon and helped out so much. Caught up my laundry, cleaned, did dishes etc. She was great.

Matt is still moving around slowly, but doing better. He did have a fever last night, we called his doctor, and he said not to be alarmed until it shows up with other symptoms. Pray that it doesn't turn into anything and that he can be well enough to get back to work on Monday.

Sonogram

2010-12-09T11:01:00.003-06:00

We had a sonogram this morning! It is always so cool to see all the little baby parts...the spine, the heartbeat, the little feet and legs...

The sex of our baby is sealed in an envelope! I still do not want to know what we are having, and Matt does. I think I will let him know...He can have the envelope, but I'm not sure when yet. I was so excited when we were walking back out to the car, that I wanted to hand him the envelope right then, but I figured that was a rash decision and I didn't want to regret it later. Besides, I need to have something to hold over his head for a while. **wink**

We still haven't decided on any names yet. We are taking suggestions, so feel free to leave a comment with a name idea!

A note to family members: we are not naming our kids after any family, so don't get any ideas of "repeats" with your name suggestions....

...and then there were 5

Cancun part 2- Selah's 9 month pictures

Cancun part 1

Over and Out

Writing Letters

Don't forget Zona

Destination: Cancun

Chicken Vindaloo

Saying Goodbye

Christmas

Princess ShaSaySay

CCC Quest (take 2)

Creepy drawings

the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card Outtakes

Cowls

6 years

My Lemon Butter Sauce recipe

a video

It's a......

Happenings...

Selah is 6 months!

Happy Halloweeny!

Artists at large

Family Pics

Over the weekend

New Stuff

Things

Parenting

Over the weekend

First Day of School!

Picture Outtakes: first day of school

Yesterday

Happy Birthday Corinne!

Selah is 4 months

Happy Birthday Audie!

Happenings

Selah is 3 months!

Apologies

today

Summer

Audie says...

This, That, and a Lie

Weekend

boots and umbrellas

Cheeky

Look Ma! No Training wheels!

1 month

A kiss for the Englishman

Audie says...

Our Life Lately

Big sister feeding Selah

Phillip and Selah

Painted baby toes

Selah's Newborn Pics

Mothers Day

Selah!

Easter, Birthday Parties, and Lack of Labor

Maternity Pictures

Baby Room Finished **Spoiler Alert***

Swim lessons

Photographing Bees

one month!

a diaper shower and girls night out

Happenings...

Audie says...

Corinne's artistry

spring cleaning and an update

What's in a name?

Special delivery

Valentine granola bars

Audie says...

Knock it off Napoleon and make yourself a dang quesadilla!

Baby's room

Audie and chopsticks

self portrait

Guest Room/Computer Room

a haircut

i heart faces

Baby Room Finished Spoiler Alert*