The Hills

Jacob's 4 and Taylor's 9 months!!!!!!

2011-05-01T10:13:00.005-04:00

Spring Break!!! That's where we have been! The kids and I packed up and drove all the way down to Florida! We stopped at Aunt Kara's (which is about halfway) to spend the night, and made GREAT time!!! It was fun to see the kids back at church in their old SS classes. The boys miss their Lakeland buddies, and played and played and played all day with them. Taylor doesn't know a stranger so she was loving all the extra attention and new surroundings to explore! We drove back home on a Saturday which was Jacob's birthday. When we walked in the house, daddy had yellow and black balloons EVERYWHERE!!! There was also cupcakes and a HUGE Batman balloon attached to a big present. Jacob was so excited. He has been talking for months and months about how he wanted a "batman burfday". We were exhausted from traveling, but did have a fun time celebrating our little guy. Hardly can believe he is 4!!!!! Taylor also had a birthday on that day (sort of). She is now 9 months old! We went to the doctor this week and she is 17lbs exactly, and is 28 in. long. She is in the 16% for weight and 60% for height. Hmmmmm, sounds like a volleyball player to me :) She is doing SO much better with her food. She has decided that she likes oatmeal for breakfast (finally) and doesn't necessarily have to eat off a metal spoon (so glad THAT is over). She tells me she is "all done" by putting her arms up in the air. She is talking too. She calls her brothers Bubba, says Momma, Dadda, and Baba. She can do the Indian call and waves Bye Bye. We are working on blowing kisses and at this point she thinks it is hilarious but hasnt tried it yet. She has mastered crawling and is quite fast!! When you say her name she crawls away faster (little stinker). She cruises along the furniture and can stand by herself for about a second (does that count?). Her favorite thing to do is clap her hands. She does patty cake and loves the song if you're happy and you know it. I love the little clapping sound she makes. Jacob also went in for his 4 year check and he is a whopping 41 lbs and 43 in. long. He is in the 80% for height and 50% for weight. While he looks skin and bones the doctor says he was textbook perfect. She said they are suppose to look skinny at this age and they will beef up in the next couple years. I was surprised when she told me that most of the 4 year olds that come in are overweight. FOUR?? That's nuts!

Noah has started Tball. He LOVES it. He is doing very well too! It is definitely a "intro" to baseball. No outs, everybody bats, and no umpires, but he is getting it! We took the kids to the park yesterday and played catch and practiced hitting and we were surprised how well he was hitting. The biggest thing is, this is something he enjoys and looks forward to and it is not the Wii... ha ha.. just kidding. sort of :)

Anyway, the day after the birthday celebrations was Easter. What a joy to celebrate as a family Christ's Resurrection!!!!! The music and message at church were phenomenal! I was brought to tears several times. We had lunch at Outback, home for naps, then finished the day attending the production The Living Cross. We took the kids and while it was hard for them to sit still (especially Jacob), they were able to see the story of Christ's life and what was sacrificed for us. We have been talking with Noah about Christ and his relationship with him lately. This was a great tool.

Hope your celebrations were wonderful and memories made! We praise the Lord for family and His wonderful gift to us!!!

Gorgeous Sunset coming home from Noah's game.

Our big Tballer....

Blessings

Joy

FAMILY!

Easter Morning 2011

Our big 9 month old!

Farmer Jacob is FOUR!!!

She was looking at her blanket getting washed. So sweet.

Phew!

2011-04-12T00:14:00.002-04:00

It has been a crazy few weeks here! Funny though, I can't recall what exactly we've been busy with, but I just know I am T.I.R.E.D.!!!! Noah started tball last week and absolutely loves it! This is the first time he has ever been on an organized team of any kind. (i know, shame on me) We've been practicing with him in the back yard (yes, BOTH mom and dad) and he has been doing pretty well! So, we get to practice, well, let me back up, on the way to practice Jacob was crying because HE wanted to play baseball too. It wasn't fair..... yada yada yada.... you get the point. When we get to the field, nobody knows what team is what. I have the stroller and the two boys and am trying to figure out where to go. That was fun. So, we get to our field and the coach calls a meeting with the parents. Would have been perfectly fine if a three year old wasn't pulling at my leg every 2 minutes wanting to play on the playground. It's worse when I try to ignore him because he lets out a cry, "Mommy, TALK TO ME!!!!!!" I think I threw some fruit snacks at him...honestly I don't remember, but he quieted down. So, it's time for Noah to start. He runs out to the field and is the first one in line to field grounders. I turn to watch him and he has his glove on the wrong hand, gets the ball and throws it under hand to the coach. UNDERHAND!!! Okay, I am being a little dramatic and taking this a bit too seriously. Oh, and I forgot to mention that about 5 minutes after practice started, half the team had to use the port a potty. Seriously, they were all lined up. It was quite funny.

I have taken another leap in my photography career and have started my own line of cards. Sometimes I get frustrated when trying to find the perfect card and then end up leaving the store with nothing. My cards are meant to be funny, encourage, and uplift. You can go to the site HERE. The company is called My Backyard Cards. I named it that because the cards are photos I have taken over the years, and most have them have been in my backyard. I am excited and orders are already coming in.

Nothing new on Taylor. She is almost 9 months. In fact, next Saturday is Jacob's 4th birthday and Taylor's 9 month birthday. She is starting to cruise a lot more along the furniture. OH!!!! AND, yesterday, she went on the potty! I AM NOT KIDDING. She was acting like she had to go, so I just thought, well, let's put you on there, and She WENT! HONEST TRUTH!!! She may never do it again, but I can definitely tell everybody she went on the potty at 8 months old! Like I said, Jacob is going to be 4. FOUR!!!! Last week we went in to get evaluated for Pre K. The teacher came out with him laughing and shaking her head. can't be a good sign. He was mad because he wanted to take the blocks home with him. What a nut. He is quite the character and often times pretends he is a pirate. Last week he had farm day at school (I took pics but havent uploaded them yet) and he was furious! He didn't want to be a farmer! He wanted to be a PIRATE! Well, he was a farmer because I told him that there are no pirates on the farm and pirates can't find Easter eggs as well as farmers can. That did it. He was in!

Well, there's the update. It is about 12:30 AM and I can NOT sleep. I had one of those Pepsi Max....yeah, like 3 hours ago!!!

8 months.

2011-03-28T12:17:00.003-04:00

I know I say this every month, but really, this month has flown by! I think this has been the one month of the most "firsts". T is a sweet girl full of life! She will study your facial expressions, try to copy your actions, and gets so frustrated when she cant keep up with her super energetic brothers! She has mastered crawling and boy can this chick move! She is a pro at it and within the past few weeks has been pulling up on everything! She can get up quick but once she is up, she has no idea how to get "down", and usually ends up letting us know she is stuck by a quick scream. She will get you attention by her "dying cat call", seriously, you think she is dying, then you look at her and she flashes you the biggest grin. What a turkey! She refuses to eat cereal in the morning. Must be bananas, but will eat cereal and fruit or veggies for lunch and dinner. Oh, and the princess will ONLY eat with a metal spoon. Forget those plastic coated things, she like the feel of the metal on her teeth. I told you she was high maintenance! She started saying da, da, da and her favorite person in the whole world is her big brother Noah. Her favorite finger food is Rice Krispies and she has started to be 100% on formula. She loves the stuff. I don't get it, but she does great with it. She weighs about 17 lbs and just graduated to 6-9 month clothes. She is a daddy's girl and whenever he is in the room she just stares at him. Doesn't love to be held by him, but lights up whenever he gets home and he talks to her. We had to lower her crib (again!) because she loves to stand up in her bed and began pulling herself over. Crazy kid. We love our sissy! Happy 8 months baby girl!!!!!

Banana Bites

2011-03-09T08:02:00.003-05:00

Okay, Miss T is 7 months old now. She is crawling all over the place, starting to pull up on things, and has 2 1/2 teeth (one of her front top teeth has been crawling it's way through, she looks hilarious because it's only one and it's not all there yet). Anyway, you would think she has mastered eating baby food! I mean, she IS almost 8 months old. My boys at her age were eating 3 times a day, one jar at each sitting, with Jacob I had to make his food thicker and add oatmeal because he was so hungry. WELL, Miss Priss has decided that she will NOT not not eat her baby food. I have tried everyday since the day I felt "she was ready", thinking, okay, today is the day. Nope. So, all that to say, I have tried to get creative when it comes time to feed her. She will not eat anything off the spoon, won't even open her mouth, but if you break small pieces off of whatever you are eating, she opens wide enough to park a car in there. The trick is, getting the pieces small enough so that she doesn't choke, and big enough so that she can see what I am putting in her mouth. So, every morning I cut up a banana into small, tiny little pieces, then I take a plastic bag and smash cherrios, or rice krispies, or corn chex (it really doesn't matter), then put the tiny bites in the plastic bag and shake it up. This coats the bananas so that they aren't quite as slippery, then I place all the "bites" in a bowl or on a plate. You can do it with any mushy slippery fruit or even cook vegetables. Sissy also wants "to do it all by herself", but she can't because she hasn't developed the pincer grasp, so I have to feed her by putting it on my finger and she pulls my finger in her mouth. High Maintenance I am telling you! It will be alot easier when I can just put the bites on her tray. Anyway, just wanted to share our little trick with the mom's out there who wanted to try something a little different. Happy Feeding!!!

frugal frugal frugal, cheap cheap cheap

2011-03-08T13:06:00.008-05:00

For those of you who know me, know that I loooooove a good deal, and don't like to spend money! Often times if it is a Saturday morning, I am out garage saling (although I haven't been since Taylor has been born) or running over to Salvation army or the Goodwill. Occasionally I will also pick up something I may find on the side of the road. Don't judge me. I am not a hoarder. In fact, most times I will pick it up, clean it off and then sell it. So, you see trash, I see cash :) Anyway, I have been so happy lately with some of my findings, I thought I would share and post some pictures. I love looking at Goodwill for clothes for my kids. What's great about it is you pay the same amount for a Walmart brand shirt as you do a GAP or Ralph Lauren shirt AND if you take that GAP shirt to Once upon a Child, they give you $ for it. Amazing!!! The best thing about most Good Will stores is, all clothing 24 months and under are $1. One Dollar! So, you are really making a little bit of $ for your kids to look good. Don't get me wrong, you gotta hunt, and is hard especially when you have a fussy baby with you or a three year old running through the racks, but most times it isn't that hard. Also, kids clothes are $2. I found 10 pairs of GAP and Old Navy pants and shorts for Noah for next summer and school year. Clothes aren't the only thing to look for resale. Sometimes all the furniture needs is a good cleaning, or even a decent paint job. I know there are some people who "can't" do it, and must buy new, but for those of you who can, there are deals to be had!!! Happy Treasure Hunting!!!

Imaginarium (Thomas) Train Table with tracks $15. Sold $40

Butterfly Chair (you will see this later in a photo shoot :)) $6.00

Toy that plays different instruments and is currently running on the same batteries that came with it. $1.99

Coach Purse $3.00

(I don't like it, but bought it to sell)

GAP sweater dress, Old Navy jacket, Genuine Kids jacket, Carters dress, 3 Old Navy skirts (yes those are tags still on them!), Old Navy shirt, Gap pink pants, Children's Place jeans, Drum roll please $10.00

FREE (minus cushions and pillows): found this sofa, love seat, and chair on the side of the road. Painted it and enjoyed it for almost 2 years. Didn't make it hard to leave behind in FL.

FREE: Just needed a good wash with the pressure washer.

Sold for $35

FREE: Josh thought I was nuts when I came home with this thing in my car.

Sold for $50

FREE: found this guy outside a Storage Unit facility by the dumpster.

Sold for $20 (FAST)

$35: Found in Salvation army. Just needs some new bottom knobs. (Did I mention it matches her crib perfectly?!?!)

$20. Okay, this crib cost $180, however I bought a crib at a yard sale from some very organized grandparents, found out it was recalled, took it into Walmart with the receipt (the people had put the receipt in with the directions) and they gave me $180 cash with which I drove right over to Target and purchased this lovely crib. But, it still only cost me $20 and my time.

Leather Love Seat (without the two knuckle heads) $55

$5.00 BEFORE

About 6 more dollars and some time.

Goings on.....

2011-02-16T16:45:00.006-05:00

There have been several things happening lately that I think, "hmmm, that would be a great thing to blog about", but then I never get around to it. So, here I am posting, and none of those "things" are popping up right now. Oh well. Our baby girl will be 7 months next week. She is crawling all over the place. She will start out on her hands and knees and then eventually get tired and army crawl to wherever she wants. She is determined to get whatever she has her sights on, and put it in her mouth! never fails. I have been fighting with her for almost a month about baby food. I tried rice cereal at first and she did, okay with it. Then we moved on to fruit and she will have absolutely NOTHING to do with it. So, I went back to rice cereal and now she refuses to eat it. Um, okaaaaay... So, we were at Moes last Monday (as we are every Monday for our burrito and drink for $5.55) and she was in the high chair staring at me eat. So, I took a piece of black bean and put it in her mouth. She chewed it, and chewed it, and chewed it, and wanted more. She would get so excited everytime I would put it near her mouth! Then, I thought I wonder if she would eat this rice? So, I tried it. The little stinker gobbled it right up. She probably had a couple tablespoons of rice and at least a tablespoon of black beans. Yes, Taylor has decided she will NOT be following the normal baby routine as her brothers did. (my boys were such good eaters in fact, I use to have to add cereal to Jacob's because he would just eat and eat). Sissy eats table food. She eats what we eat (minus the meat) and her momma's milk. I know it's crazy and weird, but it's working....
Noah has been sick. Well, I like to call it the 5 hour flu bug. He was sick for 5 straight hours running to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Poor Kid. We made him a little bed in our room and when we would hear the moaning, we would run him to the bathroom. One of the last times he got sick he was actually in our bed and got yuckies all over the pillows, blankets, sheets, you name it. So, after we got everything cleaned up, sheets changed, new blankets, pillow cases, new jammies, Noah laid there and said, "I am really sorry mommy! Will you please forgive me for throwing up in your bed?" Bless his heart! I gave him a huge hug and told him that he didn't have to ask for forgiveness and I will always take care of him when he is sick. I kept him home from school and he woke up perfectly fine. Running around and eating just like normal. 5 hour flu......who knew? Jacob absolutely loved having him home today, they played and played. They are really into Mario Bros characters and they like to pretend to be them. Jacob will be Donkey Kong and Noah will be Bowser. Well, I overheard them playing today and Jacob said, "Um, excuse me Bowser, I have to go pee." Oh, little boys.... And here is our lives as of late in pictures :-)

Love this boy!!!

2011-02-05T11:05:00.003-05:00

Just a glimpse of our silly 3 year old. We praise the Lord for this happy, sweet little boy!!!!!!

A Couple of Cheese Balls

2011-02-04T23:30:00.002-05:00

Taylor has been making the silliest face lately and as I was going through old videos, I found that Noah use to make the SAME face when he was her age. Too cute to compare the two. I love my little cheeseballs!!!!!!!

NOAH

And this is his little sissy 5 years later.

6 months

2011-01-27T07:23:00.003-05:00

Don't have a lot of time, but wanted to update the blog really quick while I was thinking about it. Our baby girl turned 6 months old last week! Too fast I tell you!!! She is a whopping 15 lbs 7 oz. and 25.75 inches long. Due to a snow storm, we were the only ones in the doctor's office, so the doctor took extra special time with her and watched her perform all her tricks. She is (and has been) rolling over both ways, just started getting up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth, and we had to lower her crib two nights ago, because while she was playing, she figured out how to pull up and look over the side. I am so very thankful that I saw her do that!!! She is still 100% nursing and wants absolutely nothing to do with baby food. Doesn't matter how sweet I make it. She wants none of it! We try a couple times a day, so hopefully she will get the hang of it very soon. This is what her Big Brother Noah was at 6 months Click HERE and HERE is Jacob. The boys just LOVE her. They play with her and love to hold her. She thinks they are the best entertainment ever. I love watching her eyes light up when Noah comes home from school. She is a happy little girl who loves people. She enjoys her exersaucer and jumperoo, but her favorite thing to do is play with her toys in her crib. We Looooooooove Our Sissy!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-20T15:04:00.006-05:00

Okay, I know January is half over, but we JUST returned home from Christmas vacation. Noah' s school was out from Dec 22- Jan 18th, so we took full advantage of that time and did quite a bit of traveling! We were suppose to head up north on December 26th, but decided to get up there a few days early to surprise my mom. Success. We left Wednesday about 3 pm, and ran into quite a bit of snow. West Virginia was especially bad with snow, wind, and wandering cows. Not kidding. We were in the middle of a snow storm and people on the left side of the road kept flashing their lights. We drove a little farther and passed a COW, that had wandered into the median. Can you imagine not being able to see but 5 feet in front of you, traveling 55 mph and BAM, theres a cow. God really protected us and we were able to make it to Lafayette,IN by 1:45 am. We were able to get a few hours sleep at our friend's house, then headed up to IL to surprise mom. She had only worked a half day, so we wanted to get there before she got home. We had parked our van in the garage so she didn't see it when she pulled in. The first thing she saw when she walked in the door was Jacob and Noah sitting in the chair yelling "surprise!". It was precious and she was very very shocked. We had a great time celebrating Christmas and New Years at my parent's house. We celebrated our 9th anniversary with a date night (which these days are very rare). Mom and dad watched the kids for us (even Taylor) so that we could go out. Little things like that mean so much!!!! Anyway, we stayed up there until the 2nd, then headed down to IN to visit with our friends. Josh had to be back to work early, so I was able to find him a cheap flight out of Indy on Tuesday. We headed back up to IL on Thursday, then drove up to northern Michigan to see my grandparents for the weekend. While we were there, we were literally DUMPED on with snow. My poor grandpa would just get done shoveling the driveway then it would start to snow again. Taylor also got to meet her aunt Abbey for the first time! We came home on Sunday night with colds and pink eye, so we decided to stay in IL and heal for a few extra days before going back to IN. We were able to spend the rest of our time in IN just lounging around and visiting, then headed back home on Sunday, before MLK day. PHEW! What a trip!!! The kids did so well on the trip both up and down. We have it down to a science. One Stop Shop is the key! They are starting to get the routine (even Taylor) down. We had such a great Christmas and visit with friends and family, but are happy to be back home and back into the routine. I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!!!!

Yeah for 9 years!!!!

Ready for Church!

Dad would sing to Taylor and she looooooooved it!

I am pretty sure Tom and Jerry was on!

Love us some Callan boys

Our sissy is now 5 months old!!!!

Christmas Morning hanging out in the Bumbo

Showing off her two teeth.

The attire of choice for the entire Callan visit!

Hanging out!

Kiss'n on her papa

Love this place!

Sweetheart.

Taylor got to meet her Aunt Abbey!!

Making Sugar Cookies with Grandma

Frosting and Sprinkles

This was a must!

Christmas Morning 2010

Four Months Already- No Way!

2010-11-24T13:14:00.008-05:00

Wow, Taylor is already four months old. I SWEAR the time is going by a lot faster than it did with the boys. Maybe because life has been more crazy than it has ever been before. We just got back from sissy's appointment. She is a whopping 13 lbs and 10 oz. and exactly 2 ft long. At 4 months, Jacob was 17 lbs 6 oz. and Noah was 16 lbs. 4 oz. Now before you start thinking, "wow she is small, what's wrong? is she eating enough...blah blah blah", the doctor had to prescribe a lotion for me to put in between her rolls. HA! She is very rolly polly and has a bit of an issue with "chaffing". Poor baby! She's the kind of baby where you have to separate her rolls to clean in between them, I am talking deep tissue here folks! Everything looked fine! She was 50 percentile with weight, 30 percentile in height, and her head was at 1%. Yeah, she has her daddy's head. I have a feeling that is why people always comment on how petite and tiny she is ;-) LOVE IT!

Here is our big girl! She has been such a blessing to us and I am very thankful for a happy healthy baby girl! Praise the Lord!

I LOVE BLOGGER!!!!! So thankful that I can compare my kids to each other. Some people blog (when they remember), some people scrapbook, I am thankful for the simplicity of typing and posting pictures. I can simply click a link and I am at the Noah's 4 month post. HERE or clickHERE to view Jacob at 4 months. I LOVE IT!!!

On another subject, while we were at the doctor we had her take a look at Jacob. He has had a rash under his right armpit. I thought it was warts and they would just run their course and go away, but the doctor had a look and said they definitely were not warts and she prescribed a topical solution for him. Poor kid. Although this may make me look like a horrible mother, I am going to post this anyway. You will probably look at this and think what in the world was she thinking?!!? We will see if ointment works. He has a touch of eczema and when irritated, this is what can happen.

We were able to take some family pics the other day. Hopefully we will be using one for our Christmas card.......Ah, we will see. I would really like to get a better one with the baby looking, but when you set your camera on a timer and balance it just perfect on a nearby fence, it is really hard to make sure everybody is looking and smiling. lol

Until Next Time.........

Things that make me smile...

2010-10-17T20:42:00.009-04:00

My kids are hilarious. Seriously, I laugh everyday all the time at the things they say and the things they do.

1. How Noah calls Cupcakes, "Pupcakes"

2. Today Noah asked me to take the peaches off of his pizza (they were pepperoni)

3. Every morning Jacob asks for, Milk in his purple cup, cover him up with his two babies, to watch Tom and Jerry, and a chocolate toptart. Yes, in this order. Oh, and the chocolate "top tart" is actually cinnamon.

4. When I am holding Taylor, Jacob asks, "Momma, what is the baby saying to me?"

5. They let us know if we forgot something, "Daddy, you forget to get me........"

6. Jacob: "I wuv you momma"

7. The way Taylor looks like a little birdie when she wakes up in the morning.

8. Noah: "Mommy, he's (a little boy we see while out) making bad choices!"

9. Noah: Dear Jesus, help Jacob to make good choices and stay on blue Amen.

10. Jacob: "Dear Geesus thank you for Momma, Noah, Da-yee, Amen. Oh, and Baby Ta-yor. Amen.

11. When I am talking on the phone and Taylor is on my lap cracking up

12. When Taylor smiles so big her nose crinkles up.

13. Watching the boys play together

14. Noah: Mommy when I grow up, I am going to be a daddy. Me: well, if you are a daddy, then that makes me a grandma. Do I look like a grandma? Noah: No, grandmas have fuzzy hair.

15. When looking at my wedding pictures, "Mommy. you were a beautiful princess!!!!"

16. Noah: "mommy can we go to daddy's workshop?" (his office)

17. Noah: "Mommy, I don't need to go to school on Tuesday, just Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!!!"

18. Jacob: "Mommy, you give me a big spanking, or a wittle spanking......will you give me just a wittle spanking yike this....(pats his bottom lightly with his hand)"

19. Mommy, where is my da-yee? Jacob every single day

20. When I place Taylor on her back in her crib to change her, get a diaper, and she is on her tummy, flip her again, change her, throw the diaper away, come back and she is on her belly again.

21. The way Jacob laughs nervously while holding Taylor. (I really need to capture this one on video, it is quite funny)

22. When Noah wants us to play Wii with him, he says, "Mooooom, I picked two players....." leaving the ball in my court to come play with him because he canNOT reset it or anything!

23. "Mommy, wook at me!!!!"-Jacob in a very whiny voice when I don't stop what I am doing to pay him attention.

24. At night after we pray, Noah gives me a hug and says, "Mom, I will miss you sooooo much when I am at school."

25. We walked to the car after eating at McDonalds one night and Jacob said, *sigh,"It is beautiful!" What is beautiful Jacob? "that big M" oh my goodness!

26. When we were sitting in my mom's house a few months ago, Noah was sitting on the couch looking at my mom's curtains and pictures he says, "My grandma's house is sooooo beautiful!"

27. When Noah comes home from school and the house is picked up he says, "Did you make the house beautiful today mom?"

I love these kids so much and want to remember these precious times! They will never be 5, 3, and 3 months, ever again!!! Wow, that is a sad thought! Thank you Lord for the special moments we share!

Obviously, if you are my friend on Facebook, you have already seen these, but for our blog followers who are not, here are some updated pics of the kiddos!

The Past 5 Years....My children have literally grown up in a gymnasium!

Noah-5, Taylor- 3 months, Jacob- 3

It's da Mario Bros!!!

They really really wanted mommy to dress up as Princess Peach. Taylor is a banana. We had a great Halloween!

Our Big Girl- folding her hands like a little lady!

I keep telling her she is only 3 months old and cannot stand and look older...sigh, she is already growing up too fast!

Loooooves her thumb!

Such a happy Girl!

Boys doing what they do best!

They really do love each other!

The Cutest Skunk you have ever seen!!!

Sum up

2010-10-13T14:04:00.009-04:00

I have been meaning to sit down and write on the blog. Really it's been on my mind alot lately. I love how I can go back and look at older posts and read about my kids and watch their videos, but I actually need to write and post once in a while. Well, where to start. "How 'bout you sum it up!" I think that's from the Princess Bride. Anyway, here's the sum up. We moved to Lynchburg the middle of August. Taylor was born July 23, 2010 weighing 7 lbs and 10 oz. and 20 3/4 in. long and we moved a week after. We lived with Josh's parents about a total of 6 days and found a house to rent here in Lynchburg. For her one month check up, she weighed 10.5 lbs. Right now it is Oct 13 and she is 2 1/2 months. She found her thumb and sucks it nonstop and started sleeping through the night 3 days ago. Josh is loving Liberty and so are we! I was able to drive up to Chicago a couple weeks ago with the kids. They did great on the 10 hour road trip. We stopped to see some friends in IN for a couple days, then headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a great time with our family and my grandparents, cousin and sister drove all the way to mom's house just to meet baby Taylor.

Noah is in kindergarten and rides the bus to school and Jacob is at a preschool 2 half days a week. We are still getting settled, but are loving our new chapter! How is that for a "sum up"!

To be continued......

Meanwhile, here are some pics of the last few months!

We did a little photo shoot one day for her 1 and a half month portraits :-)

The two best banner carriers around!

Taylor met her aunt Katelyn

She was actually laughing at her big brother Jacob!

Papa got to meet his baby Taylor!

I love how she is smiling for the camera!

Our first LIBERTY game. The kids LOVED it!

Family Picture Take 2

Daddy and Taylor time.

The "Grandmas" and Taylor

We even got to celebrate Landon's birthday!

Her first trip to IKEA, she was a little over 1 month old.

She is such a happy baby!

Jacob riding the horses!

They are such goofballs!

My Kindergärtner!

Sweet

Spicy

Our Big Boy Jacob!

Pretty in Pink bows

What's up?

Our first family picture taken the day Taylor was born!

Baby Taylor

2010-08-31T20:05:00.000-04:00

New Chapter

2010-07-18T21:03:00.003-04:00

Most of you will think that title means a new baby. Well, it sort of does and sort of doesn't. Life is like a book. Some chapters are long and some are short. Our book has many short chapters so far, but as we get into it more, I am seeing (well hoping) for some longer chapters here in the near future. Let's start at the beginning b/c well let's face it, that really is the best place to start. Josh and I met at The Wilds Christian Camp in Brevard, NC summer of 2000. After that summer I started my Junior year at Bob Jones and Josh was starting his 2nd year for his masters. We dated that year, became engaged and was married by December of 2001. End Chapter 1. Chapter 2 was fun, I finished my Senior year at BJ as a married town student. Hands down the best way to go to college!!!! Josh worked at a Michelin housing facility while I went to school and then that summer I worked at a Day camp. End Chapter 2. Our next Chapter began in August 2002 when we moved to Lafayette, IN. I was to be one of the sixth grade teachers at Faith Christian School and Josh was going to join their pastoral staff as an intern. We stayed in Lafayette for 3 years, lived in 4 different homes/apartments including the house we built and became pregnant and had our first child Noah. We loved our time in Lafayette and made the kind of friends that are like family. We still miss it! After Noah was born in June 2005 we packed up the house and began Chapter 4. After the sale of our (Brand New) home in Indiana, we moved down to Gainesville, FL to the University of FL for Josh to join the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach. What an amazing opportunity! It was so great to be a part of the Gator family. We were in Gainesville from Aug. 05-Feb. 06. Chapter 5 begins with a move to Greensboro, NC where we lived with Josh's parents for about a month and a half while Josh commuted to Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC to be there assistant volleyball coach. We moved into a duplex in Angier, NC shortly after. While at Campbell, we became pregnant with our 2nd child Jacob. We were with the camels for two seasons and in February of 2006 we were contacted about a position in Lakeland, FL as an assistant volleyball coach at Florida Southern College. Chapter 6. We literally packed up and moved in two weeks from NC to FL. We moved into a campus house with our two small kids Noah 2, and Jacob 10 months. The house was horrible, had rats, bugs, you name it. Nope not going to stay there! Fall of 2006 I was hired at Lakeland Christian as a fulltime piano teacher and my boys began going to school. We also bought a beautiful home and enjoyed all the perks of living in the sunshine state by swimming in the pool and treking it to the beach occasionally. Josh was at Fl Southern for 2 seasons and I taught piano for two years. In fall of 2009 we became pregnant with our third. A GIRL! Josh was let go from his position as assistant vball coach in December of 09 and began working as a guidance counselor to a alternative school in January of 2010. (how amazing is our God to provide a job so fast!) Noah finished his K4 year at LCS and Jacob finished his K3 class at Word Alive in May. This chapter has not ended quite yet, but it will end in about 2 weeks with the birth of our baby girl and a move.........Here's what you've been waiting for. Our next chapter... The next chapter of our lives is exciting! We are moving to Lynchburg, VA for Josh to become the assistant volleyball coach at Liberty University (see article). Not the best time to be moving (have a baby, sell a house, move, start vball season) but God's timing is perfect and HE has been in ALL of this! I can tell so many stories of how God has answered so many of our prayers in the past 2 weeks. What a mighty God we serve!!!!!! We appreciate your prayers for our little family (well not so little anymore) over the next few weeks. We have alot of transitions taking place. I will be at home with the kids while Josh travels to work each day (thankfully his parents live about 100 miles away from Liberty so we will be living with them for about a month until we "get to know the area" and find a place to live). I will be teaching Noah and Jacob at home and then once we get settled, the plan is to put Noah is a PRE Kindergarten program. So, there you have it. At least we have a plan :-) Like I said before, How GREAT is our God? He has had his PERFECT hand in all of the "chapters" of our lives!! So thankful for His guidance and provision for us over the past 9 (almost) years of our marriage! The story since Chapter 1 is no where NEAR where I thought it would be, but that's what makes it such a great story!
Stay tuned for pictures and the story of the birth of our sweet baby girl, coming Friday, July 23rd!!!!!!!

The Nursery

2010-05-27T17:42:00.007-04:00

We have been working hard the past couple weekends getting the nursery ready. The plan was to clear out the playroom, get the boys bunk beds, and move the rest of the toys (that were left after we went through them) to their room. The bunk beds arrived and the boys have enjoyed every second of it! The first day the beds were in their room, they played on the top bunk the whole night. I will take a picture when their room is put together better. We are in between sizes right now, so not only are all the toys in there, but we have bins in there so it is very cluttered. Anyway, getting the bunk beds was sort of the "kickoff" to get the playroom turned into the nursery. We painted, put up wanes coating, painted furniture, took the closet door down, and decorated all in about a week and a half. I had sold our crib when we bought a bigger bed for Jacob, because I thought storing it would probably ruin it. So, we needed a crib, dresser, rocker, and changing table. Yes, we needed pretty much everything. I went out to hit the yard sales and came up empty pretty much every week. We decided to try IKEA one night to see if they had any cheaper options. Well, IKEA had some nice furniture, but it was still going to be pretty pricey, so the next morning I decided to try one more time. Jackpot. The first one I went to had a crib for sale. $20. It was an older couple that had the crib for their grandson when he would visit. Hardly used, and it had everything labeled and was super organized. Crib- Check. Then I got a call from a friend who was out riding her bike and saw a yard sale with a changing table for sale. I headed that way and not only got the changing table, but also picked up the glider and ottoman she was selling. $30 for each.... not bad. That was enough for one day, so I drove home happily with the van full of furniture. Still needed a dresser, but I would try again for that later. Couple weeks go by and still no dresser, so last week I decided to try the thrift store. Found an older cream colored dresser with horrible handles on it. $40. not bad, it should work. Took it home and put a couple layers of paint on it, scraped off the gross flowery decal on the top drawer, then went by Target to pick up some knobs and handles for it. Voila! Done. So, all that to say, we got all the furniture for her room, used, and didn't spend much for it. But wait, there's more. So I showed some people from work a picture of the nursery and one of the ladies told me that she saw on the news about a bunch of recalled cribs. So, I get online and search the one I had and sure enough, RECALLED. Ugh! Well, when we went to put the crib together not only were all the instructions there and the screws had been color coded with tape, but there was also a receipt in the envelope. The crib was bought in 2004 at Walmart. You see where I am going with this? I took the description of the crib and the receipt into Walmart to see what they could do. They told me that they could either exchange the crib for one they had, give me store credit, OR because I had the receipt, give me $140.00. I went to look at their cribs and honestly didn't see one that I liked, so I opted for the cash, and headed to Target to see what they had. Found one! So, our crib ended up being free! Praise the Lord!!
>

Pink Frames are a must!

The Before

Old Crib

Brand New Crib!

The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

2010-05-15T21:52:00.003-04:00

Remember that book? I remember reading it in around the third grade, but I remember seeing the movie on a Saturday morning after cartoons. Well, one of the teachers at school had a copy of the movie so we borrowed it and watched it tonight. The boys absolutely LOVED it! In fact, right after the movie was over, Noah went hunting around the house for mice holes in the walls. He found a tiny little crack in the trim and floor of his bedroom door and decided that this is where the mouse in our house lived. I wish I would have taken a picture of both of my boys laying on their tummies looking in this tiny little crack thinking for sure there was a mouse in there. Then, Noah had the great idea to go in his room and pick out a toy for his new found friend. He wanted to get his Spiderman motorcycle but couldn't find it, so he settled for Lightning McQueen. He placed it gently in front of the hole and then told me it was time for bed.

Oh to have the imagination and mind of a child. He is so confident that 1. Mice Talk 2. We have a mouse in our house and 3. When not looking mice get into your toys and drive them around your house.

So sweet! Just had to share.

Pool Fun!

2010-04-23T05:20:00.004-04:00

We are so thankful for the warmer weather lately. The boys have really been having a blast swimming! Noah is like a little fish and Jacob is still warming up to the idea of being in the water. It will be neat to see the difference in him by the end of the summer. Today is Jacob's birthday and he is Three..... We love you Jacob!!!

It's a GIRL!

2010-03-09T18:41:00.002-05:00

Click to watch the video!

It's about time!

2010-02-03T08:02:00.008-05:00

Well, I am at home from work today because Jacob (who is currently telling me he would like Oreos for breakfast) is sick, so I thought it would be a good time to update the blog that I haven't updated in oh..... about FOREVER! The last time I updated was Halloween (shame shame) and SO MUCH has happened since then. Golly, where do I start. Well, Josh finished up his season at Southern in November. We stayed here in town for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful dinner with one of the pastor's at our church. It was nice to have the time off and not be traveling all over the country. About two weeks before Christmas Josh lost his job as assistant coach at Florida Southern. Not the best time to lose your job, benefits, etc. but God is in control. While we weren't sure what the Lord had in store for us, we were excited about new possibilities and new chapters. He began staying home with Jacob while Noah and I went to school. It has been super cute to watch Jacob and Josh's relationship. Jacob now calls himself Daddy's Jacob which makes me super jealous, but oh well..... The week before Christmas my ENTIRE family flew down from Michigan, Chicago and Virginia for about 4 days. We had so much fun just hanging out. Everybody stayed here.....yes, there were bodies everywhere (ha!)... which made things even better. We were even able to sneak a trip to Disney World (free because of my mother's amazing skills) and had a blast! I unfortunately was about 8 weeks pregnant at this time (how's that for the big blog announcement...oh well...) and was sick as a dog while they were here, but my mother stepped in as super woman and helped me with everything. *Sigh, i miss them*. Anyway, they left on Monday and we took off for snowy NC on Tuesday. We didn't tell Noah there was snow at Nana and Grandaddy's so when we got out of the car about 8:30 at night he just wanted to play in it. I love this. Both Jacob and Noah were soooo excited about the snow and that is all both of them could talk about. We had a wonderful Christmas with Josh's family, well, again I was sick the whole time, but it was still nice to be with everybody. We headed home on our anniversary. (who's great idea was it to get married so close to Christmas?!?....8 wonderful years, love you babe) January is a bit of a blur as we have just gotten back into the routine of things. God has been so amazing to our family and there is so much to PRAISE HIM for! Josh has found a job here in Lakeland, and while it may not be a permanent situation, it is definitely going to be an amazing opportunity to work with troubled teens. Talk about being a light, pray for him if you remember. So, that's been our schedule since we last chatted

Noah is doing well in his K4 class at school. He's a smart little goober but is still one of the youngest in his class. He has started to read and can write pretty well. We have a lefty on our hands here. great.... We have made the decision to have him repeat K4 next year to help with some social and communication skills. Noah was a late talker, like started speaking sentences a little over a year ago, not kidding. He has come miles from where he was at the beginning of school last year, but I still think he needs that extra time to develop. Josh is looking at it purely from an athletic point of view, "He will hit his athletic peak at 16 and have 2 whole years to play high school sports and be the STAR"....... ha ha... of course I am kidding, sort of, he did say that, but that isn't our ultimate reasoning :-) He loves to play the Wii and jump on our trampoline (santa really went big this year!). He loves school and being with people. He wants a dog, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon!

Jacob is STILL potty training......ugh! I think we have been at this about 9 months. He LOVES to wear "unnerware" specifically his "Dinosaur Unnerware" but still goes potty in them. The beginning of the year we had him in a Church day program for two's which he enjoyed, but then I had my wonderful friend Laura move back into the area and she watched him at her house with her little girl Abbey (that is until Josh lost his job). Jacob and Abbey were so cute and he loved going to her house and playing! He is still a social butterfly and will say "hi" (in a high pitched LOUD voice) to EVERYBODY he sees....even the people you don't really care to socialize with...ha ha...His favorite thing to do is GET DIRTY. This is the story of his life though. He is just my "dirty kid'. This past weekend we were playing out in the backyard and Jacob had just his underwear on, no shoes, and was dumping dirt on his head. Over and over and over again. Josh and I just watched and laughed. With his social skills and his dirtiness, I can totally see him ending up being a missionary in some foreign land ministering to people who don't care about being clean.

As for me, yes WE are expecting. This pregnancy has been COMPLETELY different than the other two. I am sick and tired ALL the time. Thankfully some of the sickness part has passed, but I do occasionally wake up and have a bout of morning sickness. I am about 16 weeks right now and we find out what it is in a few weeks. The boys are excited and constantly kiss the baby, which is sweet. Noah thinks he has a baby too, but it's not in his tummy, it's in his elbow. What a goof. We are due July 25th, but since both of my boys were born on the 23rd of the month, I am going to request this one (thank you for schedule C-Sections) for the 23rd. We are excited and thankful for another blessing!

Sheesh, this ended up being forever. Sometimes, once you get going, it's hard to stop.

Here is the short version in pictures...

Sometimes they love each other :)

The Hill Family

The Armstrong Family

One of our trips to Sea World

Noah's Christmas Program

Happy Haloween!

2009-11-02T12:32:00.002-05:00

He loved to show off his muscles!!!!!

Jacob was NOT in a very good mood and Noah's face cracks me up. Although it doesn't look like it, we had a great time trick or treating on Saturday night!!!
Poor Pirate!!!!

Noah-isms....

2009-10-17T19:53:00.003-04:00

This four year old has been cracking us up lately! First of all, he gets up every morning SO excited for school. Not so excited about the getting up part, in fact this past week I had gotten him up and he was in the living room telling me, "Mommy, I need to lay back down and go to sleep, I didn't get all my sleep in, I have to, I have to lay down momma!", but when I say it's time to get in the car, he has his "pak pack" on and has to double check to see that I put his spiderman lunch box in there. (One day I got him hot lunch and he about flipped a lid! he had the whole class looking for spiderman and was so upset that I had not packed his lunch that day, although we talked about it that morning). Anyway, the kid thinks that he is NOAH. THE Noah, like in the Bible Noah...... Jacob came home from Sunday school and Noah said, "Oh look Jacob! You colored my ark!!!!!! AND my rainbow! Good Job Jacob!!!!!" This cracked Josh and I up. We didn't say anything. Just listened and snickered....

Last week, were were coming home from Chik-fil-a school night (any excuse to eat Chikfila right?) and he was in the back of the car singing..
"With a rat-tat-tat
and a thump thump thump
I built the Great Big Ark"

He sang it a couple times, but honestly I wasn't listening. He sang it about 5 times before I realized what he was singing! Oh boy! So, we sat down and had the talk that has the same name as Noah who built the ark, but that wasn't him that everybody was talking about or singing about.

Today we were trying on clothes to see if they fit (which seems like we do this every month!) I was putting shirts on Noah and saying something like, "Oh Perfect!" or "Too small". I put him in this one shirt and before I could say anything Noah says, "this shirt is too small as a mouse, can I give it to a mouse momma?" Not sure why but I got tickled by that!

Okay and I had to come back and add this one he said tonight. We were in the jeep getting gas and Noah said, "Momma, can I pick my nose outside? or Inside?"

So funny! Just thought I would share! :-)

Just Two Little Boys...

2009-10-05T11:13:00.005-04:00

Wonders Never Cease
by Jacqueline M. Sinkes

There are tiny little fingers pressed against my cheek,

and the palm of the hand that holds all my dreams.

There is a careful little grimace directed right at me,

and the expression of innocence that grabs me every time.

There is a pair of big brown eyes that light up in the dark,

and the window to a soul that knows only truth.

There are clumsy little legs dancing to a tune,

And a chubby little bottom to break their every fall.

There is a babble and some laughter coming from my room,

and the sounds of heaven right here in my home.

There is chaos in the kitchen, and toys all down the hall,

a reminder to us all that time is so precious.

There are cookie crumbs on the table, and milk spilled on the carpet,

but an image of simplicity and joy came with the mess.

There are car keys in the toilet

and the unmistakable sense my life is full.

There are two boys fast asleep, just in the other room,

and a mother who's convinced that wonders never cease.

Happy Birthday Josh!!!!

2009-10-02T08:32:00.003-04:00

This past Wednesday my husband turned 33. YES, I said 33!!!!! Every year it seems like when his birthday comes I am way more excited about it then he is! I let everybody know it is his birthday and always call and leave birthday messages. Noah left him the sweetest voicemail. He sang him Happy Birthday and then when he was finished told him, this is Noah. We celebrated on Tuesday night because he had an away game on Wednesday. Love you babe!!

Oh, and as always, pictures of my favorite little boys in the whole wide world!!!!!!!

Ponder...

2009-09-12T14:31:00.012-04:00

This post could be long. So, you've been warned. I have just had alot of things on my mind lately. Things that I stop and thank God for, things I need to continually work on, circumstances I don't necessarily love in my life, but are trying to see the good and work through them. A couple of things like how lucky we are to have people around us to help us be better parents. I am so thankful that God has surrounded us with friends who we can "bounce" parenting ideas off of, take advice from others who are not in that "season" of life but have amazing insight and ideas to help, people who constructively criticize to help you become better, and the amazing resources we have to go and help us find the answers. I also thank the Lord for giving me a "learner's spirit" (most times :-)) when I do hear things that I don't like about something I am doing or not doing. Also thankful for the proud Mommy moments when your child says, "Please, or Thankyou, or Excuse Me" without being prompted. Hard to be thankful for the moments in the grocery store when your two year old is laying on the ground screaming because he wants Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets, NOT the normal (ON SALE) Chicken Nuggets. Oh the joys of being a mom! Yes, I am the mother you will see at the grocery store with my two monkeys getting groceries. I have one who for the most part is pretty good IF I let him ride on the cart, and another one who will sit in the front of the cart (after a long loud battle, I always win) and say Hi to EVERYBODY we pass. I don't have a choice. It's what we do.

Anyway, on a little bit different note, I have also been thinking about how we as Christians sometimes think that we need to be perfect. Perfect children, perfect house, perfect job, perfect attitudes, perfect devotions, perfect, perfect, perfect..... seems very, I don't know....robotic to me. So what happens when you achieve this perfection? Is this what I want to teach my kids? My life's goal is suppose to be continually growing in Christ. I will never "arrive" and hope that I will continue to grow closer to Christ each day. At the age of 28 or 98...it's a continuous thing! But, how do we teach our kids that? I have been reading this Amazing book lately called Instructing a Child's Heart. It talks about the differences between discipline and instruction. "Discipline should be applied only when behavior need to be corrected. If the only time we instruct is when our children need discipline, our children will not listen to our instruction for fear of the discipline...." Wow! That is very hard to do with two young boys, but with consistency, prayer, right motives and strength from above, it is acheivable. In their previous book theTripps talk about getting to the childs heart. My prayer is that I can INSTRUCT my kids in a way that they will not make decisions because they know that is what Josh and I want for them (people pleasers), but they will have discerning hearts. Every opportunity to correct our children is an opportunity to confront them with the need of forgiveness and grace....wow.... Easier said than done, that's for sure! The sad part is that I know many adults who haven't learned this "discernment" factor. What a tough world we live in. Makes me even more excited to think of what is to come! That is my prayer... that our kids can find the truth and hang on to it in an understanding discerning way...I could probably go on and on....but on to other things.

Noah has started K4 this year and now gets up everyday to go to "momma's school". He's done pretty well the past couple weeks, gets up when I need him to (6:45), gets dressed quickly, and out to the van with his bookbag packed and on his back! He has been having a little problem at school listening and obeying which has lead to his stick being moved to yellow several times and red a few times. Uh oh... guess I need to be reading the above paragraph everyday! We are working on him obeying the "first time he is told" (yes, we sing the song frequently) so hopefully things will get better. He LOVES school and his teachers and loves all the extra attention from the "bigger" kids when I walk up and down the halls with him. Jacob started at a church daycare about a month ago. He enjoys it and has many "friends" in his class. They all give him a hug when I pick him up (it really is too cute). Jacob is also learning many things as a not-so-terrible but still-not-obedient two year old. He has been trying to play the baby card alot lately (cries if he wants something Noah has, or just plain....cries) but we are trying to "nip it" quick, so things are getting a little better (slowly). Wow! Learning is going around alot around here!!! Josh's season started about 3 weeks ago as well and we have played 10 matches. We are 7-3 as of last night and play again this afternoon in Pensecola. Josh is feeling much better and I would say he is at about 90%. His hands give him problems occasionally but other than that he is starting to get his strength back and is well on his way to 100%. thanks for your prayers for him by the way. It's hard on us sometimes when he is away at matches or recruiting, but thankfully we stay pretty busy playing outside, reading, swimming, picnics at the park, etc. It helps keep my mind off of the fact that he isn't here. It's been hard being in a place without family. Not having that "option"of calling one of our parents and asking if we can drop the kids off so we can go on a date, or even when one of us gets sick. It's an adjustment, but we are making the best out of it (most times :-) We are getting into the "heat" of the season next week when we start playing conference matches. As for me, I am doing well. This is my 2nd year as a fulltime piano teacher and I have 47 students. I still love what I do and thank the Lord everyday for the opportunity to do it!

That's about it from this neck of the woods. I told you it would be quite long and if you stuck it out this far I am amazed! Thanks for reading about us and love to all! Until next time!

Okay, I guess I will throw in some pictures :-)

SUMMER!!!!!

2009-07-27T08:29:00.008-04:00

We have had one exciting summer so far! It started with a trip up to Chicago to visit my family. While up north, we drove to Mid Michigan to visit some family, and then headed up to Northern Michigan to visit my grandparents! The day we left was on Noah's birthday, so we were able to celebrate it a couple times while on vacation. We were gone for about 10 days and had a wonderful time! We returned home and enjoyed some time with Daddy. We went to the beach, Sea World, played in the pool, and had picnic dinners at the park. Our friends the Callans came from Indiana for a week and we had an absolute blast! I am pretty sure it has taken us all about a week to recover from that fun week! This week has been a definate "hang out" week. We haven't been doing to much, and it's been wonderful! Thanks to the free movies every week, we have been to the theater alot this summer, which has been a special treat for the boys.

As far as the boys go, Noah has been going to school 2 half days a week which has been given me some extra one on one time with Jacob. During that time, Jacob has been learning how to use the potty. We aren't quite there yet, but he is doing well.....somedays. Noah loves seeing all his friends at school, and Jacob loves to have all the attention on him when Noah is gone. Josh has been busy with Volleyball Camps. He had Southern's camp for 2 weeks (while we were up north), and has been doing small satelite camps at high schools. At the beginning of the summer he was having problems with numbness in his feet, which later extended up his legs, then his fingers, hands, arms, and then small amounts of numbness in his mouth. After many tests, doctors, MRI's, bloodwork, he was diagnosed with Gullian Barre syndrome. Thankfully he had a mild case of it and while he is starting to receive feeling back, he is nowhere near full recovery. Fine motor skills are hard for him, as well as throwing a ball, running, pretty much anything but walking is hard for him. The doctor said that he will only get better but it could take up to a year for him to feel normal again. He is strong and while it really bothers him to be under this kind of restraint, he is doing his best and knows that the Lord is in control. Thank you for your prayers for him. I will try to update on his progress. I have really been enjoying my kids this summer. This is the only summer I will have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. They sure are alot of fun and the best of friends (well, most days). School is right around the corner, but we are going to hang on to our summer as long as we can!

Hope your summer has been terrific!

Noah's Freckles

Checking out the waves

Jacob

Elk Rapids, MI (yes, it was cold)

Jacob, Landon, and Noah

Papa playing horsey

Hanging out at the Great Wolf Lodge

Uncle Adam and the boys

Grandma W. made Noah a caterpillar cake for his 4th birthday!

Landon

Jacob, Noah, and Harrison Callan

The Mommies

Super fun times!

The boys and one of their favorite meals.....CORNDOGS!

Sea World

Aunt Caroline with the boys

Don't Give Up on Us!!!!

2009-06-18T13:13:00.002-04:00

As I sit here on the couch with the radio rambling on, boys in bed, my feet are up and I am contemplating editing some pics of the weddings I've recently done, or update the blog! Well, you got it, the blog won! Things have been wonderfully crazy lately. We all finished school and with all the hustle and bustle of life and tieing up all of our loose ends there, the blog has been neglected.. Oh, well. it happens..

Anyway, let's talk about the boys, b/c let's face it, that's why people check this thing right? Jacob is now a TWO year old! Wow, that just sunk in. TWO!!! We threw him a little party with some of our friends here at the house. He loved it. He loves to watch his "shows" as he calls them and when he is tired he asks for his "baby" (his superman blanket) and usually has his thumb in his mouth. He loves to turn on and off the lights (I cannot believe he is that tall now) and pretty much follows his big brother around and does whatever he does. He's still as tough as ever, and loooooooooooves to get dirty. We've been pottytraining him for about 2 months now. He goes everytime we take him, but still goes in his diaper. Honestly I have not been consistent at all with him. In fact, after vacation (Chicago), we are going to buckle down and just do it. He has to be pottytrained in order to go to the school we want him to be in. So, that means Mommy needs to get on the ball. He is such a sweet little boy and quite the flirt! At his 2 year doctor appt. his lead results came back high. It was a 5 out of 10 which made the Dr. concerned. Thankfully we got him retested about 2 weeks later and his results came back normal. It was a scary two weeks there for a while, but thankfully he is fine. His hair is coming in a lot better which was another concern of mine. Jacob is a fun crazy little monkey as I like to call him. He is still Momma's boy and loves to crawl on the couch with me and snuggle.

Noah is still 3 but will be 4 in 5 days. He goes to school in the summertime 2 halfdays a week. His teacher told me today that she couldn't believe how smart he was. (Don't we always love to hear other people tell us about how wonderful our kids are???) He is in a new class this summer to help him get used to the new concepts. In the fall he will be going to school with me and starting K4, which we are both VERY excited about. He talks nonstop. Always asking questions and learning. It's funny because Noah was a VERY slow talker. In fact, last year at this time I don't remember him talking much at all. Now, he talks nonstop!!! Our movie theater shows free movies in the summer, so we went yesterday and Noah talked the ENTIRE time! I kept putting my finger over my mouth hoping he would get the "hint". "What are they doing mommy?" "Oh, he is soooo silly!" "Monkey's jump up and down." "Look out, (SCREAM)" Constant. He has learned to swim!!!! This has been huge! He can swim almost the whole way across the pool. Now if we could just get Jacob to even get in the water!

Both of them are growing like weeds and we are having a blast being their mommy and daddy. I love to watch them laugh and play together. They are always playing games with each other and chasing each other. Sometimes it's not always the best time (like in the middle of Walmart or at church) but I am thankful they have such a close relationship!

Josh and I are enjoying the summer. Josh has FLSO volleyball camp starting on Sunday and the boys and I will be going up north for about 10 days. July is going to be great times together, before things start to pick up in the fall.

Well, there you have it. Sorry it's so long, but I needed to update!!! Here's some pics of our activities!!!

One of our few date nights

Jacob having fun in the tub!
Noah and his hair -BEFORE

The Big Boy - After

They really do love each other!!!

DEAR time

2009-05-01T00:08:00.004-04:00

Drop Everything And Read.

When is the last time you read a good book?

The Past Two Years...

2009-04-23T14:21:00.007-04:00

Just a couple of hours old....
Our little Superman...
Look at that smile!!!!!!
Such a Sweet little Lion....
At 8 months you were already headed down the slide!
Such a big boy!
Big Brown Eyes!

Our little Pig Pen!

This post is dedicated to our youngest son Jacob. Today is his birthday and he is TWO years old! We love you so much buddy! Thank you for the joy you bring into our lives each and every day. You are such a loving, caring, sweet little boy. We pray for you every day that you will grow up to love Jesus!!!!! It is so much fun to be your mommy and dadddy!! You are such a blessing to us and your big brother Noah and we love you very very much!

Our favorite commercial

2009-03-27T16:59:00.002-04:00

It just cracks me up!!!!

Jacob's New Haircut

2009-03-23T17:48:00.003-04:00

Poor little guy has been struggling with his hair. We cut it really short and then it looked to thin, then we grew it out and it looked too wirey..... We just cut it again and it doesn't look too bad! Only problem is, he now looks like he should go to Kindergarten tomorrow...

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T15:44:00.006-05:00

Well, we usually don't do valentines day around here, but Josh had other plans. He got me a Teak bench for the shower. Not sure how many ladies out there have ever tried to shave their legs in a stall shower, but it is NO fun! So, I am not sure if this bench was more for me or him but regardless of the "motives" I indeed am very thankful :-)

I have also been talking about getting a tangerine tree. We love tangerines in this house and while being in Florida I thought it would be fun to grow our own. So......when I drove up from work last Friday, my gift was in the driveway. Yeah, he done good =) Love ya babe!

One year later...

2009-02-15T21:25:00.008-05:00

Juice and Snacks....

BellyButtons.

Noah.

Jacob

Wow! It is hard to believe that we moved here exactly one year ago. We have so much to be thankful for! Two houses, 2 new jobs, 2 boys starting school, a new team, a new college, a new car, a new church, and many many more blessings. God has been so good to our family. Josh, the boys, nor I have missed one day of school due to being sick, which is amazing. The boy's have done a wonderful job transitioning into their new schools, I have a wonderful job which I love and Josh is enjoying his new position as assistant volleyball coach and club director. His way is perfect... Thank you Father....

Jacob's Sweet Little Prayer.

2009-01-15T06:11:00.003-05:00

I didn't understand any of it, but I am sure God did =)

Better Late than Never!!!!

2009-01-11T17:04:00.008-05:00

WOW! Okay, that was a huge lul in the blog (I think that usually happens ever year) but here we are. BACK!!! Hope your holidays were wonderful! Our little family just stayed here for Christmas. We had a special Christmas Eve dinner at the house and watched The Grinch. Noah had a VERY hard time getting to sleep that night because he knew that "youknow who" was coming and was so excited to open his presents! I think by 11:30 he FINALLY fell asleep. Christmas morning was exciting as the boys woke up and saw thier gifts under the tree. We read the Christmas Story and enjoyed a French Toast breakfast with Chocolate Donuts as an extra special treat. The boys received a swing set for Christmas and we played on it the rest of the day. Some dear friends invited us over for dinner that night, so we enjoyed spending the holiday with some "adopted" family. The next morning we flew out early to catch a plane to Chicago. We were planning on just driving ourselves to the airport, but at the last minute our friends Phillip and Karen said they would take us. What a blessing! Especially since our flight left at 6:26 and we had to leave about 4am. We spent the next 8 days in Chicago area with my family. It was so nice to see everybody and just relax. Noah wanted to play in the snow so bad, (in fact that is all he talked about for 3 weeks) but when we arrived the snow had started to melt and by the next day there were only wet dirt piles. Poor Kid. Maybe next year. Surprisingly nobody got sick, so that is a huge praise! Anyway, our first week back was nice and normal. I love vacations but I also love routine!!!! Hope your Christmas was amazing! What an awesome privelege we have to celebrate the birth of OUR KING!!!!!

For the Grandparents...

2008-12-21T15:31:00.002-05:00

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

2008-12-18T18:51:00.002-05:00

Reflection

2008-12-11T22:46:00.005-05:00

Yes we are still here! Very Alive and kicking! I haven't really had the time to post anything lately! My grandparent's visited right before Thanksgiving, we drove to NC for Thanksgiving, on the Wednesday before, Jacob fell at the playground and had to go to the ER to get 3 stiches in his chin, came back from NC, and we decided to paint and put crown moulding in the "piano" room, which looks amazing (pics to come). I know all that is random and not very specific at all, but that's what you get from me at 10:50. We had a wonderful time with my grandparents. Gosh, I love those people! They were able to spend the weekend with them and the boys absolutely loved every minute of it. Jacob did well with his stiches, he was a little swollen for a couple days, and did NOT do well when the doctor had to get them out, but it's almost all the way healed and he hasn't missed a beat. Noah has a Christmas program next Tuesday that we are excited to go to. It's his first one ever and I will have the video camera ready. I am so excited to see him sing. He loves to sing and makes up songs all the time, so it will be interesting to see him in this setting. Anyway, that's about it. I will post some pictures of our adventures. I know it's random, but at least it's something :-)

Just an Update!

2008-11-12T21:52:00.004-05:00

These boys are growing like weeds! I can hardly keep clothes on them! It seems like I finally get to the point where everything in their drawers fit them, and I am pulling out the next bin of clothes because the pants are too short! What a job! Anyway, Just thought I would give a quick update to the fam on how we are! Jacob went to the doc for his 18month check up and is in the 75% for height and 50% for weight (no idea what the height and weight were but I am sure I have it written down somewhere). He was such a trooper getting his shots too! He is the human version of PigPen. I know I have said that before, but seriously Look at that picture! This is how he is whenever we play outside....no joke! He LOVES dirt and being messy!!!!! He is doing so well at "Granny's" house. He is starting to talk and use phrases. One of his favorites is "Thankyou Momma" or "Hiiiiiiiiii Dadda!" He tries to copy whatever Noah says and Loves to answer Diego and Dora's questions. Whenever Little Einsteins is on he shouts, "Dine Dine" and smiles. Too sweet. Noah also loves to play outside but is really into his bike lately. He loves to ride it around the culdesac and have Jacob "chase" him. They both love to wrestle and I love to watch them interact with each other. Noah absolutely LOVES school. He knows the days of creation and what God made on which day. He gets some of them confused, but for the most part he does a good job! The season is almost over! We have one more conference match on Friday night and then it is the Conference Tourney. If we win that we will go on to regionals (which is the week after Thanksgiving). It's been a great season, but we will really love having our daddy around a lot more! That's all from Florida! Stay tuned! Things happen quick around here!!

For the Grandparents.

2008-11-04T06:25:00.005-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted pictures yet of our adorable Buzz Lightyear and Tigger...oh, and Superman! Here you go! You can see more HERE

New Treasures

2008-10-27T20:25:00.006-04:00

Found this basketball hoop on the side of the road. It is really durable and will NOT knock over if somebody plays too rough! We have it out by the pool and it fits PERFECTLY!

We found this in on the side of the road in our neighborhood. I knocked on the door and the lady told me to take it. I scrubbed it tonight (pic was taken before the scrub) and it came clean! No cracks, holes or anything!

I picked this up at a yard sale a couple weekends ago. They were asking .75 for it. I am NOT kidding. I had to carry it a couple blocks (it was a neighborhood yard sale and I parked far) but it was well worth it! The boys use it as a water slide!

The thing I love about these things is that they clean up so nice (with some Krud Kutter) and we use them, then put them on Craigslist and use that money to put towards necessities. Praise the Lord!

I promise I did not set them up like this! I am amazed at the love my boys have for music! Noah sings ALL the time! He makes up songs constantly about houses, dogs, animals, Jacob, mommy and daddy. It's quite humorous to listen to him. Jacob loves music too! He is always wanting to "help" me play the piano. I teach piano lessons every Monday night here at the house and Noah will come in the room and say, "Mommy, Noah's turn for Piano!" It's so cute, so I give him a little "mini" lesson and then he is off. I love it that they love music so much! Maybe it's all the Baby and Little Einstein? Who knows, but I love it!

Oh and I almost forgot, Here's a video of Noah's newest toy. (Also bought at a yard sale!)

I kept telling them they were tired!

2008-10-25T17:03:00.002-04:00

I had two boys today who did not want to take a nap. For naptime, I would find them in each other's beds, the closet, playing in the toy chest, everywhere, but in their beds sleeping. Well, it is 5:00 and guess what?

What a weekend!

2008-10-22T06:50:00.003-04:00

Click HERE to see more

Last weekend Josh was in Alabama for a tournament from Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon. The team did great with a 3-0 weekend. Wooohoo! The boys and I went to a friend's house for dinner on Thursday night and Friday I had a wedding to shoot in Tampa, so a friend picked the boys up and took care of them. Saturday was "clean the house before we do anything" day so we stayed at home and picked up and then went to Chikfila for dinner and some play time. Josh was home by 3:00 on Sunday afternoon so we enjoyed spending a little time with him before bed.

The wedding I had to shoot went so well! The couple was great, the guests were great and the beach was beautiful!!! Would you beleieve I took over 700 shots? I couldn't help it. Everybody was smiling. ALL THE TIME!!! Here are a couple and you can click on the link to see more!

Have a great Hump day!

Oh, What a Happy Day!

2008-10-16T22:53:00.002-04:00

The Gang..

My birthday was yesterday and my oh my did people make such a fuss about it. Can't complain though. It was sort of nice to celebrate my special day with my new friends. The day started out with my boys singing me "Happy Birthday". Okay, so Noah sang it all (I should have gotten it on video it's too cute, he is actually on key!). Jacob tried and said something that sounded like "Happy Birthday Baa Baa" (this is how he says Ma Ma). Then I got to school and there was food, food and more food brought by the wonderful fine arts department at LCS. We had cakes, doughnuts, cheese, crackers, Fruit, Candy and lots of chocolate! My friend Shelley gave me the cutest bag and my students loaded me up with more chocolates and candles! For lunch, my wonderful husband took me out which was so nice! Josh comes to school every day to eat lunch with me. We usually eat in the cafeteria, but today we splurged and made our way over to Chilis. So nice to spend some quiet time with him. Then when I got back to school there was a WONDERFUL bouquet of fruit from Edible Creations from my friend Trisha! Wow! Seriously fuss fuss fuss! To top the whole day off Pam, Terri, and Karen took me out to Mimi's Cafe! We had such a great time! Pam and Karen got me the cutest little pumpkin candy dish (which I have been searching for) and wonderful coffee scented candle and Terri gave me some delicious specialty cupcakes. Thank you so much everybody for help making my day so special! Wow! Lord, you have blessed me so much!

Gator Game!

2008-10-12T23:12:00.003-04:00

We had a terrific weekend! We got up early this morning to get to early service, came home for a quick change, and then headed to Gainesville to watch the Gators sweep Tennessee in 3! It was so much fun! Tiring, but fun! They had a blow up jump thing for the boys and afterward we went down on the floor to see our old friends. You can view more pics HERE

Me and My Boys

2008-10-11T20:01:00.002-04:00

New Recipe!

2008-10-11T18:39:00.003-04:00

Ooooh, look what we are going to try this week. Hope I can make mine look as yummy as the picture!!!!

Smoked Turkey Quesadillas
Here’s a recipe that smokes! Add it to your 30-minute specials.
Prep Time:30 min
Start to Finish:30 min
Makes:4 quesadillas

1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
4 oz (half of 8-oz package) regular cream cheese or reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup julienne-cut oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers or regular Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz)
1 package (11.5 oz) Old El Paso® flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas)
8 slices (1 1/2 oz each) smoked turkey breast
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 ripe olive slices, if desired

1. In medium bowl, mash avocado. Stir in cream cheese, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes and chiles.
2. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese on 4 of the tortillas. Top each with turkey slice. Spread avocado mixture over turkey. Top with remaining turkey slices. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the Cheddar cheese. Top with remaining tortillas.
3. In 12-inch skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add 1 quesadilla; cook 2 to 4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining butter and quesadillas. Garnish with remaining Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses. Top each with olive slice.

Just a quick note...

2008-10-11T09:51:00.004-04:00

Well, we finally took the plunge and buzzed Jacob's hair. He looks like a little boy now. We still need to get it a little better on the sides, but overall I really like it. Here is a random conversation I heard the other day. I was cleaning the bathroom and Jacob and Noah were right around the corner eating their lunch. Jacob had his applesauce (as always) all over the place. All in his hair, down his belly, his face, the table, you get the idea. Noah is Mr. Clean. He hates messes especially when it involves anything getting on him. He freaks if there is dirt or something on his hands. Well, Jacob decided to share his applesauce and got some on Noah's arm. Noah looked at Jacob and said, "Jacob, got applesauce on my arm, Bad Choices Jacob!" and then went on to yell (or whine because it definately was a whiny voice) "Momma, Jacob make bad choices!" It cracked me up, but gave me a little insight to our 3 year olds little mind. We have really been trying to stay on him and make sure that he knows life is all about choices and consequences. Good Choice = Good consequence. Poor Choice= Consequences that aren't so nice. Anyway, it's good to know that he is trying to teach this lesson to his little brother...well, sort of ;-)

A new Game!

2008-10-09T21:53:00.002-04:00

Not that I have time to play it, but I LOVE puzzles! Enjoy this one! you can get more at jigzone.com! Thanks Kathleen!

Feel the Love?!?

2008-10-01T14:50:00.000-04:00

Little Boys....

2008-09-30T22:37:00.001-04:00

A few Noah stories

2008-09-27T23:31:00.003-04:00

Noah has been quite the funny man lately. First of all, he LOVES stickers! My mom sent him a dinosaur and Thomas sticker book and this kid is sticker nuts!!!! He will stick them everywhere and sometimes I will find Jacob with Thomas all over his body! He got Josh while he was asleep (okay not really)!
Heres a few of his latest "funnies": About a week ago Josh was taking the kids to school and he was stopped at a light. On the corner of our road and the main road is a certain (clears throat) restaurant. Well Noah reads EVERYTHING and while they were at the light he started to spell out loud H-O-O-T-E-R-S. Josh asked him what that spelled and after he thought about it for a second, he yelled, "Spells DADDY!" Josh got a kick out of it. A couple days later Noah was at school playing and his teacher found him holding a 20 dollar bill. He held it up in the air and said "I have Money!" His teacher called Josh and asked if we had sent Noah to school with any money (who would send a 3 year old with money?). Anyway, Josh had no idea what she was talking about so he called me and asked if I gave Noah money. Well, come to find out, Josh put Noah in some new shorts I had picked up from Goodwill the weekend before. So, when he put his hands in the pocket there was some kid's money (probably birthday, how sad!). So, we went to Beef O Brady's on Noah last week!!!!! I am thinking I am going to make weekly stops at that thrift store :-)
Really, I can't make this stuff up!

Treasures of the week!

2008-09-21T21:28:00.000-04:00

The boys and I got up early on Saturday morning (how do you get little ones to sleep in?!?!) to hit some garage sales! We did GREAT! We picked up a lounge chair that matches our patio furniture PERFECTLY, for $8 (we priced the same chair at Lowes and it was $120!!!)! We also picked up these rocking chairs for $5 a piece. I found these at a 55 and older trailer park. I was hesitant to go in because older people tend to have really old things and really high prices, but not this lady! They are going to look great on our front porch!

Hey, I remember you!!

2008-09-21T21:00:00.001-04:00

You may or may not have noticed that Josh has not made it onto the blog in a while. Well, it's volleyball season and schedule is CRAZY!!! This my 4th season as a single parent :-). Every year it gets a little bit better and I think this year has gone smoothly due to me having a fulltime job. Anyway, My WONDERFUL husband surprised me last night by taking me out to dinner and to see Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney! It was AMAZING! If you ever get the chance to see the show, do it! It is a little pricey, but worth every penny! Thanks to Anna for coming over to watch the kids! They love you!

My Hot Date! Whoa!!!

Oh yeah!

Amazing! Even the express ;-)

I really wanted to buy them!

Can you tell I am a little excited?!?!

Visit from my Parents and Caroline!!

2008-09-20T13:55:00.006-04:00

LOVE this picture!
Aunt Caroline and Jacob
Jacob riding his "horsey"

Noah pouring Water on Dad's head. No idea why, he did this all day!

My parents came down last weekend. It was a VERY quick trip!! We are so thankful they sacraficed their weekend to spend some time with us. Noah was so sad when they left and walked around the house saying in a whimpering voice, "Ganma, Papa, Cayine." It was so sad. Noah LOVES people especially when they come to "his house". Anyway, Thanks Dad, Mom, and Caroline for the fun visit! We will see you soon!!!!

An Update

2008-09-12T20:26:00.002-04:00

William and Noah
Abby and Jacob
Me and Laura

Trying on his Halloween Costume.

Not liking his Costume!!!!

Hey Momma!

Playing Trains

Oooh, very artistic!

Mommy's Little Tigger!

Just a quick update! These kids are growing like weeds!!! I just got done going through their clothes and am finding that Jacob is growing out of his shorts!!! Argh! That's frustrating, but I am thankful we have growing healthy boys! Things have been alot different around here since going back to work. Meals, laundry, grocery shopping, you know all the important stuff, is taking some adjustment to get done, but we are getting through it! The boys are still doing great in their classes. Noah has not tried to escape and has been moved to a new classroom. He was the youngest one in his 3 year old class so we thought it might be best to move him to the 2's. Which has been good because most of the kids in there are turning 3 and they are more of his age. Jacob is turning into such a big boy! He walks down the stairs like a big boy now and has been out of his high chair for at least 2 months now. It is so fun to watch him! Josh was out of town last weekend in Colorado. Thankfully we didn't spend it alone. My friend Laura, who I went to high school with, came over with her family for dinner on Saturday night. It was so neat to see our little ones interact. Noah just LOVES to have playmates over and of course cried when they left. Poor Kid! Hopefully they will come back and play soon! Anyway, my parents are on their way here as I type, so stay tuned for another post soon!

Last Weekend

2008-09-05T20:58:00.001-04:00

Whew! It feels weird blogging about LAST weekend, THIS weekend! We had our first game and tournament last weekend during Labor Day. We played at home on Friday night and won, and Saturday was the tournament in Tampa. It was my first tourney with a 3 year old and a one year old and boy was it easier than last year!!! Noah pretty much gets free reign when we are in the gym and I don't have to worry about him too much. It isn't anything like last year! He would run out on the court if he wasn't strapped in his stroller!!! He still needs some correction, but like I said, it is SOOO much easier this year. Jacob did very well too! He stayed in his stroller most of the time, but did sit on Nana's lap some. Oh yeah! Josh's parents drove down on Thursday and stayed with us Friday-Monday. It was nice having extra eyes there to help watch the boys! We came out of the weekend 2-1, not horrible. We all went to church on Sunday together and then enjoyed some Firehouse Subs afterwards...Sooo yummy! Did you know that if you bring your church bulletin they will give you a free drink and chips! Not a bad deal! We rested in the afternoon and went over to the Evan's house for dinner. After getting home late that night, Nana and Grandaddy left early the next morning. The boys did alot of sleeping on that day which was nice and helped get them ready for the week. Many of you have asked about my new job. I love it! It really is the perfect job for me right now! I get out early enough to get the kids right after their naps and we come home for a quick swim, then dinner, bath, and bed! It's becoming routine now, which is perfect for us! On occasion there will be games to go to during the week and I am teaching lessons here out of my home still which can get pretty busy, but all in all I would say we are doing great! Thanks for praying for Noah. He hasn't escaped since!!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Arg Matey...

2008-08-23T09:23:00.006-04:00

Wow! This has been quite the week! Monday was the first day of school. Noah woke up with a pretty thick runny nose, so he had to go with daddy. Jacob went to Miss Hicks, and mommy went to work. Good day. They actually ended up canceling school for Tuesday and Wednesday due to Hurricane Faye. No school Tuesday so we all hung out here at the house. They actually called school back on for Wednesday, so everybody had their first "normal routine" day. On Thursday morning I received a call from Noah's preschool. Apparently the little "curious george" decided to open the outside gate from the playground and see what life was like on the outside all by himself. Yes, he escaped from preschool. This preschool has been in existence for over 20 years, and my child is the first to EVER open the locked gate and escape... His Grandparents will be so proud..... Well, thankfully they caught him right away. We are now devising a plan for these "escapes". I was not shocked when the principal told me. Noah does this quite frequently. We will be in Chickfila or someplace and while I am throwing the trash away, he will run right out the door...Little booger. We are working on it. But please pray for us if you remember. My biggest fear of him starting preschool was the potty accidents. Hasn't had an accident yet and thankfully we got out of the whole, take-all-our-clothes-off-to-go-potty stage. We still need to master the whole, pulling-up-our-pants-by-ourselves stage. His teacher says that after he goes potty he hops all the way down the hall with his underwear and pants at his ankles to her so she can pull them up. He can do it. Just won't sometimes. His teacher has a hard time not laughing when she sees him coming down the hallway. Hopefully we will overcome this stage soon. Jacob is doing so great! He loves all the attention he gets from Nanny (that's what everybody calls her). He is learning alot too. Mostly that he isn't a baby anymore, he sleeps on a mat for naptime and plays with his buddy Michael. He colors pictures for us, and loves to play outside. So glad everybody is adjusting well.

Okay, on for the fun stuff. The PIRATE Ship! As most of you know, I am a garbage picker. Well, I don't pick through garbage, I am more of a see-it-on-the-side-of-the-road-hope-it-fits-in-the-van sort of a picker =) Well, we saw this on the side of the road and well, Yes, it fit in the van =)

This is our latest "treasure"- no pun intended...okay, it was totally intended.

The Boys Absolutely LOVE it! Especially Jacob. He doesn't quite love to pool yet, so while we are swimming, he can play in it and we can keep a close eye on him. I can forsee in the future, Noah making Jacob walk the plank into the water....how fun!

Okay, here are some pics of the boys. Noah has figured out a fish face and he does it ALLLLLL the time. He likes to show his muscles too. Jacob is still little pigpen. He makes a mess in whatever he does. We have been working with him on putting things away and wiping himself and the table off. He gets it. Doesn't like to do it, but gets it.

MUSCLE MAN!!!!
Messy Face!

Noah put his unnerwares on all by himself (inside out and backwards)
Fish Lips

Some Pictures from the Summer

2008-08-15T22:56:00.008-04:00

Kara, Martie, and the Jake

Trying to get everyone in the picture! Gap Baby! Chatting on the steps! Beautiful Elk Rapids, Michigan
So sweet when sleeping....
Cheese!
Helping Pa Pa water the lawn
Right after he gave Pa pa a kiss...
Grandma Wyckoff and Jacob

Gavin and Noah
Best Buds

The Big Man just turned 3!!
It's a GREAT birthday when you get Thomas AND Dinosaurs!

Just an update!

2008-08-12T20:46:00.007-04:00

Things are in FULL swing here! Especially this week! The players reported to school on Sunday morning, so it was a quick trip to the early service and new members meeting, then we had to pick up Lunch for the team at Sonny's BBQ and head over to school. The players started practice on Monday and things have been NON stop since then! Life for the boys have been far from normal as well! This week is Teacher In Service at school, which means everybody is frantically running around trying to find their books, get their schedules in order, get desks, you know all the stuff you need to run an effective classroom. So, as a new teacher, I am sitting back with my eyes wide open waiting for somebody to help me along in the process. I am going to love teaching piano fulltime. Just being around the people I work with is going to be great! There are some real warriors for Christ and Godly people who work at LCS. The boys started their new schedules this week as well. Noah started preschool and only had a little trouble when it came to nap time. See, whenever he takes a nap here at home, he takes his clothes off, I let him, I mean, why not? He's home, right? Well, they don't appreciate this "behavior" at school, so he's had a tough lesson to learn and that is to keep his clothes on. He didn't sleep yesterday at all, and I don't know how it went today, because Josh picked him up. He LOVES playing on the playground with all the kids! His teacher says that he shares well, and so far, he hasn't had any potty accidents! Praise the Lord! Jacob is going to a Mammy's house. That's what the kids call her anyway. He seems to love her and when we got to her house this morning, he went right to her. I got a call this morning from "mammy" and said that Jacob was running a fever. I rushed over there to find my little guy with his thumb in his mouth and his head on her shoulder. Poor Baby. After a pop of Motrin, he was a different kid, so he went to my meetings with me today. Hopefully he will feel better in the morning so he can play with his friends.

The boys had appointment a couple weeks ago and I forgot to post them, so even though this is boring to you now, I love to look back and compare my babies! So, here it is! Noah turned 3 the end of June he is 35 lbs, and 39 1/2 inches tall. He's a big kid, well, not big. Just tall and skinny! He is 90% for height and 75% for weight. He's in 4t for shirts and anywhere from 2t-3t in bottoms. Jacob weighs in a a whopping 24 1/2 lbs and is 31 3/4 in. tall. He is 75% in height, and 50% in weight. What do all these numbers mean? We have 2 very healthy active boys! I wish Noah would eat more, but oh well. Jacob is a garbage disposal. After I fed the boys the other night, I sat on the couch and was eating a salad. Jacob climbed right up next to me and "begged". Lettuce! What 15 month old eats lettuce?!?!? Whatever, at least he eats.

OH! I almost forgot! Our friends the Fryes came into town! Micah and Noah were reunited!!!! They missed each other so much! David, Tana, Savannah, and Micah were all staying with family in Orlando, but came over on Saturday night for some visiting time! It was so much fun and not enough time! Noah cried and cried when they left. He kept saying, Micah! Micah!!! It melted my heart! So sad! anyway, we love you guys! Thanks for coming over!!!!

Reunited!!!

My baby!

My other Baby!!

Cheese!

Serious Noggin Time!

We're getting there!!!

2008-08-04T17:31:00.005-04:00

Can you say Palm Trees?!?

The Bathroom is actually in really good shape.

Well, we are definately getting there with the unpacking. We have a long way to go and that big hole in the backyard with all the water in it isn't motivating me to unpack boxes ;-) On another note, Noah is officially pottytrained!!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that correctly! We are super excited and proud of him! It took a tough little lesson which involved him having to clean up after himself, but after that, he's been going on the potty! He starts Preschool next Monday, so this whole pottytraining thing was just in the knick of time! More pictures to come as we finish rooms.

Visit with Grandaddy and Nana!

2008-08-02T22:03:00.005-04:00

Josh's Parents we here for a little over a week. It was great to see them and spend time with them. In the midst of our move we were able to squeeze in a trip to Ikea in Orlando and Disney's Epcot while they were here. Jacob stayed back with a babysitter, but Noah went and had an absolute blast! he did so great! We don't know what we would have done if they hadn't come down this week. They had planned the trip back in May, we had NO IDEA we would be buying and closing on a house the week they had planned to be here. God is so good! Thanks for the visit Grandaddy and Nana! Come back soon!!!

The House

2008-08-02T17:22:00.002-04:00

Whew! Sorry it's been so long since last post, but OBVIOUSLY we've been going through some changes! The boys and I flew into Tampa Wednesday the 23rd, Josh's parents arrived Friday the 25th, and we closed on a house the 30th. We are exhausted!!!!! Anyway, I thought I would put some quick pics up of the exterior of the house and then as we get rooms unpacked and decorated, I will post accordingly. We are loving our new house and the boys are Loving the swim time! Come visit!

Yes, Still on vacation!

2008-07-16T01:07:00.001-04:00

We are still on our 4 week vacation, and are having a blast!!!!! Actually the last 2 days have been potty training boot camp, so we haven't been out of the house much. Noah had One accident yesterday and One accident today. Not horrible. I am thankful that my parents have all hard wood floors though ;-) He HAS to be pottytrained before he can go to preschool, so that is why we are working so hard. We did venture out today to the swim park with no pull up. He did great! Keep us in your prayers! We have a tough road ahead!

Here are some More Pictures from Myrtle Beach on my facebook. CLICK HERE

A couple pics..

2008-07-10T11:17:00.003-04:00

I really don't like how that last one turned out, but here are a couple of family pics we got on the beach. We had THREE very Crabby little boys on our hands. Jacob was teething, his shirt was SOAKED with drool. It was crowded at the beach and very sticky and hot. So, despite all those circumstances, the pictures aren't horrible... I wish we could have taken the family picture in front of the beach, but the sun would have been in our eyes, and I was getting complaints about sitting on the "hard" sand. Like I said, at least we got a decent shot. There are SOOOO many more to play with. We are in IL right now with my family. We got to spend some time with our friends Suzanne and Gavin for a few days. Gavin and Noah were so cute playing together, it was hard to get a good picture, but we got a few action shots ;-). We are going up north for the weekend to spend some time with the grandparents. Josh is in Gainesville working Florida camp for 2 weeks, so I am "flying solo" with the boys. They really have been pretty good. They've been sleeping very well and Noah is still doing pretty good on the potty. No accidents for 2 1/2 days so far (Praise the Lord!). Hopefully it will stay that way. OH! We bought a house. Well, we got an accepted offer with the potential to close on July 30th. We'll see if everything works out. The boys and I fly back the 23rd, so we have a week to pack....yippie! Stay tuned, there's more to come....

Shark fishing

2008-07-02T08:09:00.002-04:00

We are in Myrtle Beach and yesterday we went out shark fishing. The guy that took us asked us if we were fishing for food or fun. We promptly said fun, so they took us about a half a mile off the shore line. YES, where we saw everybody on the beach. Not too sure I will be getting back in the water to soon. Anyway, we caught 3 shark. Josh's was the biggest at about 80 lbs.

Here are more pictures... CLICK HERE

A Rare Shot where Jacob looks like he's winning!

2008-06-24T19:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Noah!!!!

2008-06-23T19:43:00.003-04:00

June 23, 2005

This was taken in the NICU when you were just a couple hours old. So sweet!

3 years old. Wow! That is very hard to believe. We've had quite the past three years with you buddy! You've been in about 100 airplanes, 100 hotels, many hours on the road traveling, moved states 4 times, moved into a different house 5 times, had 4 different doctors, been a member of 4 different churches, and have about 200 girlfriends in 3 different states. Wow, buddy that is alot to accomplish in only 3 years! Most people don't do that in a lifetime! You must have some crazy parents!!!

We love you Noah Armstrong Hill! You truly are a gift from God and we are so thankful that He entrusted your precious life with us. Thank you for being a good brother to Jacob and sharing your toys whether forced, or willingly. God is going to do some great things in your life buddy! We pray for you everyday that you might know and love Jesus with all your heart.

We LOVE you so much!

Proud Potty Boy!!!!!

2008-06-22T19:09:00.003-04:00

Doesn't he look so proud! Pottytrained. What is that word...really? I mean, does it mean use the potty all day with big boy pants on and doesn't have an accident in 3 days? 4 days? a week? I don't think I would say Noah is 100% potty trained. Is he dry all day long? Yes. Does he go pee pee in the potty when I take him? Yes. Does he tell me when he has to go? No. Does he tell me when he's gone in his pants? No. Does he go Number 2 in the potty? Sometimes...lately, no. Does he wake up from his naps dry? Yes. Does he wake up in the morning dry? Most times yes.
It's so confusing! We started this sticker chart about 3 weeks ago. He LOVES it! I will ask him if he has to go potty, and he responds, "no, potty". But when I say, Do you want a sticker? He stops what he is doing and runs to the potty pulling his pants down on the way. He only gets a sticker if he goes. I have no idea what I am doing. He wears big boy pants around the house but I am scared to death to put him in them when we are out (which is alot). What if he has an accident at the most unopportuned time? It's hard enough playing a zone defense when you have 2 to cover and are out and about. Maybe when we are on Vacation and Josh is around to help me. No clue. He will be Three tomorrow and I would have loved to say, "why yes, of course my son was potty trained before he turned 3!" Oh well. We're still working on it.

$69.08

2008-06-21T15:35:00.004-04:00

Yep! That is what it cost me today to fill up my extremely empty tank. Thankfully, we only fill it up every couple of weeks, but my prayer goes out to all of you who are driving 70-100 miles a day! Sheesh!

My Two Sons =)

2008-06-16T14:32:00.003-04:00

They sure do make my days interesting! Daddy has started volleyball camp at the college yesterday, so for the next week and a half, he pretty much comes home to sleep. We're planning on staying busy though, so we won't miss him TOO much. Today we went to the Children's Museum downtown. I didn't even know it was there! I went to the bank to make a deposit, and got lost and accidentally drove right by it! Ha! Anyway, Noah was completely overwhelmed with all the cool "hands on" stuff they had there. He loved to go shopping at the store and dress up and ride in the fire truck. In the lower level of the museum they have a really cool Orange Tree set up, where you can pick the oranges off the trees, then put them through the factory, put them through these cool tube thing a ma bobs and they somehow end up in your kitchen! It was pretty neat. Noah loved it and threw a hissy when we had to leave. Hopefully we'll go back soon! It's been pretty rainy the past couple days, so we've been inside. These pics were taken yesterday. I was plannig on taking the boys to the pool, but that doesn't happen when it's pouring outside!

We leave for Myrtle Beach a week from Friday!! WOOOHOO!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-14T18:05:00.000-04:00

At least HE knows what he's reading...

2008-06-14T17:09:00.002-04:00

Daddy and Noah reading his favorite Thomas book, well, Noah reading it....

Finally learned how to say MOMMA!

2008-06-14T17:03:00.002-04:00

Not the best video, but you get the idea.

2008-06-12T18:16:00.002-04:00

I will try to get a better one up. My battery died...

Mommy and Jacob!

2008-06-08T21:58:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update on our little guy! He has such a cute little personality. He really keeps a smile on all of our faces! He is walking ALL over the place, but will NOT keep any shoes on! We went to Chuck E Cheeses tonight and he kept wanting to crawl on stage with Chuck E. He has 10 teeth, 4 of those being his molars. He LOVES his big brother and is still a pretty big momma's boy. Lately he has been clapping and laughing when daddy comes home. It's too cute. He flies out of my arms into daddy's. He says, "Thank you", 'Da-ddy", "Nigh- Nigh" and "Nana". We love our little Jacob and can't wait for you all to meet him someday!!!

From Trash to Treasure

2008-06-07T19:56:00.005-04:00

A while ago I was driving around the lake and it just happened to be the night before trash. Well, I unexpectedly came across an entire patio set. It is bamboo like and included the love seat, couch, chair, and table (which was broken but all the parts were there). Josh was in volleyball practice and I had the van and the boys all by myself. These items were out by the side of the road for the taking. I couldn't just LEAVE them there! So, I opened up the back and proceeded to load the van up with ALL of this furniture. It was quite comical. I wasn't that far from the house, which was good because the back door wouldn't shut all the way. I had to tie a beach towel from the handle to the latch on the van. I put on the hazards and away we went. Whew! We made it home! I put the boys in bed and started unloading the van and putting it on the patio to surprise Josh. They weren't horrible in the Before shots, but I like them MUCH better in the after shots.

BEFORE

The Love Seat

The Couch and Chair

AFTER

It's pretty neat what some paint and some cushions can do. Not sure, but I think the total of the paint, the cushions, and the pillows totaled about $80. Not bad for a WHOLE patio set!!!

Second story, our neighbors down the road were moving. They left town and had a HUGE pile of trash out by the road. There was a dining room table and chairs, a wardrobe, just junk.... Well, I moved some of the stuff and found this kids table and chairs. I couldn't just LEAVE them there!!! So, I carried them home. They've been sitting on our porch for quite some time, but finally I got some paint and worked on them today. They aren't perfect, but will be just fine for the boys to play play dough outside or paint or something.

BEFORE

AFTER

Yes, I picked up trash.....but it was FREE and I can use it! Keep throwing those things away people! We love it!

A New Chapter

2008-06-07T15:17:00.003-04:00

Well, this post is all about me. Sorry. No pictures, no videos, just me typing about myself. That sounds pretty selfish! Anyway, the past 2 weeks I have been in the process of applying, interviewing, and getting offerred a job teaching piano at Lakeland Christian. I think it is time for me to get back into the teaching world. I have missed it. I love my boys so much but know that this will benefit us all. Noah is almost 3 and is very eager and ready to learn. He has probably double his vocabulary in the past 2 weeks and is doing so well with the potty. He's ready for preschool. Jacob is such a little ball of energy and loves others so much I just don't know what he would do if Noah weren't home to play with him! We are excited about this new "chapter" in our lives. I am so excited to be working at a Christian school again. The hours are wonderful and I get all holidays, and summers off! I am looking into preschool for Noah and care for Jacob. I would love to find a stay at home mom with little ones for Jacob. There are a couple people at church, so we'll see ;-) That would be a prayer request if you think about it!

We have been looking at houses for the past couple weeks as well. Sheesh! That is also a chore! Do we want new? Do we want a yard in this heat? Do we want a pool? Newer house in our price range = smaller house....... So many things to consider! Not to mention finding something close to the college, LCS, AND church! We think we've found something, but are not getting our hopes up!

Well, stay tuned. Our story is always to be continued!

Last Wedding in Raleigh

2008-06-02T19:58:00.003-04:00

This was my last wedding in Raleigh. Well, for now at least. They were a great couple and super easy to photograph. Thankfully I have already had some people contact me about weddings here. Yeah! Praise the Lord!

HIs Name is Noah and he's TWO!

2008-06-02T18:53:00.004-04:00

Of course, he is almost 3, so we should be working on that. His bible verse for last week was, "hear, the word of the Lord." He knew it by Sunday afternoon and has been saying it all week. He is quite the little parrot and still repeats EVERYTHING he hears.

Josh's New Toy

2008-05-31T13:52:00.005-04:00

Before we left Angier, Josh sold his Jeep. We've been living on one car since then, which is fine because Josh walks to work. Josh has been looking for another "dream jeep" but decided that he would "settle" for this little number until he finds exactly what he's looking for. It's a 1999 Ford Mustang and will definately do the job to drive around town while the boys and I have the van. Oh and for those who are concerned, YES there is room for 2 car seats in the back. That was a prerequisite for the purchase ;-)

He will defintately be sharing his toy with his wonderful wife!!!! For those of you who care; this was ANOTHER craigslist find at $3000. Not too shabby!

Jacob nodding yes and shaking no...

2008-05-29T23:16:00.003-04:00

This was taken at dinner the other night. Noah was talking about rocket from Little Einstein. He is obsessed with that thing. (obviously from the video) We had lasagna so that is why my children are not clothed. We've nicknamed Jacob "PIGPEN" because that kid will NOT stay clean. He has to strip down everytime he eats. Anyway, this video captures a little bit of his personality. He's such a little ham...

Our New Toy!

2008-05-29T12:43:00.001-04:00

So, we got this like a month and a half ago, but I was going through my pictures and totally forgot to blog about it. We found this AWESOME trampoline that is 12ft with the enclosure on craigslist for $25. It was located literally right across the street. Noah and Jacob have been LOVING it! Mommy loves it to. We put it in our backyard under the trees so it is in the shade all day long. Thank you again Craigslist!!!!!

Family Pictures

2008-05-27T00:32:00.007-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! We were able to spend the day as a family today! We just hung out around the house during the day and after naptime we headed out to the beach! I have been wanting to get some family pictures, so we ate dinner at Smokey Bones in Clearwater, then went on to Clearwater Beach to play! It was a gorgeous sunset and we really couldn't have asked for better weather. I took the tripod and the camera remote control and we got some pretty good shots. Hope your holiday was relaxing and enjoying!

Josh's trip to Europe

2008-05-23T09:20:00.005-04:00

The volleyball team toured Europe for ten days. Their first stop was in Prague in the Czech Republic. They spent three days in Prague, playing two matches, then travelled to Vienna, Austria, for a day. From there they travelled to Maribor, Slovenia, where they spent three days and played two matches. Their next stop was Pula, Croatia for two days and their final two matches. After a day of sightseeing in Venice, Italy, they returned to the U.S. last Thursday.

Josh said the scenery was gorgeous. The volleyball wasn't bad either. They had a great time and really built up the team unity.

I am getting ready to leave for NC today. I have my last wedding to shoot in Raleigh this weekend. Josh will be flying solo taking care of the boys. I think they are excited to spend time with their daddy!

First Boo boo

2008-05-17T16:08:00.003-04:00

Jacob had a bad fall yesterday. He is getting pretty good at this whole walking thing, but does have his spills! He's fine and still all smiles! BTW, he looks rashy in the pictures because he was just playing with his daddy and when daddy tickles him with his stubble his poor sensitive skin breaks out..

Animal Kingdom!

2008-05-14T09:54:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's already been a week since the last post? It has gone by so fast. Well, Mom and Caroline got in late on Wednesday night to Orlando. We had a blast with them! We went to the beach, Orlando for the weekend and spent Monday at Disney's Animal Kingdom! What a blast! Not sure if any of you have been to Animal Kingdom but it was awesome! We went on the safari, the roller coaster rides, Nemo the Musical, and saw all the Disney Characters. It was fun but exhausting! Two boys all day at a park can be a handful, but they did pretty good. My mom was a trooper and stayed with the boys so that I could ride some rides with Caroline. Isn't she great? Noah loved the characters....well, sort of. It took him a little while to warm up to them. I love the picture of Donald and him. Noah walked right by Donald and just started climbing the fence and looking at something. (He was obviously trying to avoid Donald). So Donald went right over there to see what he was looking at. Too cute. Goofy was fun too! Mickey and Minnie lines were too long, although we DID see them from a distance. The boys have been sick with runny noses and while we were at Animal Kingdom Noah started showing signs of Pink eye. Well, the next morning his eyes were completely sealed shut. So, we made an appointment to see the doc. Sure enough, Pink eye in BOTH eyes. Yeah. that medicine is fun to get in a toddler's eyes. Sheesh. Three times a day?!? Yeah, we'll try.

Josh gets back on Thursday night. It's been so much fun having visitors with me while he is gone, but now that everybody is gone, I am realizing just how much we all miss our daddy. It will be so great to see him. It's hard to beleive how much Jacob has changed in just 2 weeks. He has started saying Thank you and Daddy. It's really super cute. He also is walking alot more and with his hair cut, he looks so much older! Noah changes everyday it seems like. He is getting out of the "let's throw a fit in public and scream as loud as we can" stage. Well, he still does it occasionally but it's getting alot better. He loves to look out the window while we are going somewhere and say, "Momma, Look! A Yellow one (car)!" He is a little sponge and still loves Curious George the most! Jacob is still pretty attached to Baby Einstein, but I do catch him watching George with his older brother.

2008-05-14T09:38:00.000-04:00

The Beach!

2008-05-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

2008-05-14T09:36:00.000-04:00

2008-05-14T09:33:00.000-04:00

Whew!

2008-05-07T20:42:00.002-04:00

We have been Quite the busy little family lately. My very good friend Deanne came with her little boy Harrison to stay with us for a week! We had SOOOO much fun and I am so thankful she took a week off of work to fly down here and spend time with us!!!! Our boys played together so well! My boys loved to hug and kiss on Harrison! I don't think he appreciated it all that much, but they did play well together. Josh and the team left on Sunday for their trip to Europe. They will be gone until next Thursday. Deanne and Harrison got here last Wednesday and left today. Tonight my mom and Caroline are flying in from Chicago to spend some time with us. It makes it easier to cope with Josh being gone, when I am busy with company. Josh has emailed a couple times and everything seems to be going great. No luggage was lost and the scenery is gorgeous! While Deanne was here, we went to the beach, the outlet malls, and hit some of the parks around town. It was trying at times with 3 little boys, but we had a blast! I wish they could have stayed longer! Thanks Clayton for giving them up for a couple days! I have to leave for Orlando in an hour to get Mom and Caroline. They are going to be so exhausted, but hopefully we'll have plenty of picture opportunities!

Picture should say it all!

2008-04-27T15:21:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Big Guy! Daddy, Mommy, and Big Brother love you very much!

Too Much Birthday Brownie?!?

2008-04-24T17:42:00.002-04:00

Noah's 1,2,3's

2008-04-24T09:52:00.002-04:00

Noah loves doing puzzles and saying his numbers and letters. Thankfully I found all these great puzzles at a garage sale last year. I totally forgot that I had them. We pulled them out and Noah has had so much fun with them. There are ABC puzzles, shapes, numbers, right and left hand, and animals. We have been having school about 2 days a week. The main thing we have been learning is how to draw a circle. I will have to take a picture of Noah's circle. It is big, but you can definately tell it is a circle. He does so well coloring and doing his flash cards. Hopefully this will help get him ready for pre school in the fall.

We Love the Park!

2008-04-23T16:28:00.002-04:00

We are soooo thankful for the many parks that are in and around Lakeland. We literally have about 5 to choose from within a mile or two. Noah and Jacob absolutely LOVE to go to the park. It's very hard sometimes to get Noah to come down or leave. In fact, we went through a day where I was telling Noah to do things like, "Noah, come and eat, or Come and pick up your toys, or it's time to go night night." He would reply, "No Way Mommy!" After this happened a couple times, I looked at him in the eyes and said, "Noah, you do NOT say No way to mommy, you say No Thank You." So, yesterday we were at the park and it was time to leave to eat lunch. I called for Noah to come down and he yelled, "NO THANK YOU MOMMA!" I had to laugh, but things like that have been happening all day. Time to go potty, time to take a nap, time to eat, time to clean up our toys....."No thank you momma" is what I get...... Now for lesson 2!

Thom and Terri's Wedding.

2008-04-17T22:12:00.003-04:00

Here is another couple I met through craigslist. Only problem was, I had scheduled their wedding before we moved to FL, so I had to drive back to shoot it! Video and pictures turned out pretty good if I do say so myself ;-)

COCKROACH!!!!!!!

2008-04-17T12:05:00.004-04:00

Okay, my mother warned me when moving to Florida, the bugs get bad. Well, when we lived in Gainesville I honestly do not remember a single bug in our apartment. I am not saying they weren't there, we just never saw one. Well, we have been in this house for almost 2 month and this is the 4th roach I have seen. AHHH! I HATE bugs especially ones that crunch when you step on them. The big guy in the pictures was in my kitchen. MY KITCHEN OF ALL PLACES! I JUST scrubbed the floor yesterday too, so guess I will have to do it again during naptime today. Anyway, he was on his back but his antenae were still moving a little. So, I thought, oh yeah, he's dead. I got Noah to come in and take a look at it. He kept saying Look, bug! Look Bug! He was no help to get the thing off the floor and I surely couldn't wait for Josh to come home, who usually comes home for lunch but today is eating with a couple recruits on campus. So, I tried to sweep it up into the dusting pan. Little did I know the "THING" was still very much alive and once touched, started flailing it's arms and legs for everything it was worth! I screamed, Noah screamed, it was aweful! Now, not only do I have to get rid of it, I have to KILL it too!!!! So I grabbed one of Josh's tennis shoes and dropped in on the thing.....opps missed, and the thing started moving faster. AHHH!!! I hate this, so I picked up the shoe, and started beating the thing several times. I left the shoe on it the last time I hit it, thinking, Maybe I could just leave it here covered up with the shoe, and let Josh take care of it. Great plan, until I thought about the almost one year old. Jacob would probably move the shoe, and try to eat the thing......okay, I had to clean it up. Noah and I swept it into the dust pan, antenae still moving by the way, and then flushed the sucker down the toilet. Noah did the honors and waved him a "Bye Bug! Have a good day! See ya!"

The adrenaline is still rushing....I know I am pathetic and am going to have to get over it!!!!!! I live in Florida and that is just the price I pay! But for real, that guy is HUGE!

Our Big Man!

2008-04-16T18:18:00.007-04:00

This is our Big Little Man! I can hardly believe that he is going to be One a week from today! He has been popping up like this for a couple days now, and finally got it on film. He's not walking yet, which I am very thankful for, I can't imagine 2 walking!!!! Yikes. Anyway, here he is in all his glory!