Baby birds

You might be wondering if we've moved our naughty corner and if Halle is taking a "time Out" here. The answer is no. I just wanted to share with you all the view I've had of Halle for about 90% of the time the past few days.
She discovered a birds nest under our deck and figured out that if she gets down she can peek through the slots in the wood and see the nest. It started out with 4 eggs and 3 have now hatched.
She is obsessed with these babies. She's constantly running out there and checking on them and she's always telling us to be quiet in the house because if the french doors are open then we might disturb them while they sleep.
Last year we had a nest in a tree out our bedroom window and we could watch them get fed and it was really neat.
I wish the nest was still there because it's kind of cute when Halle gets hunched all down like that- Me--- not so much!!!!

Poor Nick!!

This week I couldn't take his hair anymore so I told him we were getting it cut yesterday. For whatever reason his normal place wasn't open yesterday so we went to another person. Now we've had a bad experience before when we went somewhere else but when we got there and I saw that it was a girl probably about 24-25 years old and very "in- looking" I felt confident.
She asked me what I wanted for his haircut and these were my exact words:
I'd like it to still be long but just give it a little bit of a style.
Pretty clear- wouldn't you say!!
So she starts and I start reading my magazine. There is my mistake because apparantly I should have been watching every move she made because when I looked up I about died.
She cut soooooooo much off!
She finishes up and by now I'm hovering over them cringing with every little snip she made- (she was just evening it out so I couldn't say anything)
She asks me - is this short enough or would you like it a little shorter!!
"No- it's plenty short" I said!
Here's my boy before:



And here's my poor boy after:


He's been so good about it- I apologized profusely after we got in the van. It's a good thing his hair grows quickly. I think it makes him look like he's 8 years old.
I never thought I'd say it but I want his long hair back again!
We will never go anywhere again to get it cut besides Rachel. I told him at least he won't have to get his hair cut for a very long time!!!

Bubbles and more bubbles

At supper last night Halle mentioned that she wanted to help me. She started listing off things that she was going to do for me.
Later at night she came out and said she wanted to wash the table for me.
I got her a washcloth and got it wet for her and quick took a picture of her being so helpful!


I went about my business and later came into the living room and there was a very distinct smell- cucumbers!
And then the panic hit me- and I asked her if she was using soap. Yes she says- she wants it to be very clean.
Well let me tell you- it is very clean!!
I started with a new bottle of soap and this is what it looks like now!












Do you have any idea how long it takes to get that much soap off a table. Oh well- it was the thought that counts!

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A Heather update

Go here to read the update from Heathers hubby. It sounds like so far so good!!
What an inspiration this family is!

Pray

In case any of you don't know- Heather- who we did the fundraiser for is having brain surgery today. She is at Mayo and decided to go with surgery.
Please keep her and her family and the doctors in your prayers today!

Girls and their flowers

I wanted to just mess around the other night and take some pictures of the girls. I love taking pictures! These are a few of my favorites!

Arianna's soccer

Here are some pictures from Arianna's soccer game on Saturday.
She's still loving soccer- so fun to watch her play. We have 3 more games and then this season is done already. It went so fast!

The vote results...

edited to add: Brenda just voted and she also is a very wise woman who see's the sweetness of Halle- she votes for the naughty but more cute category also!
(Just had to give credit where credit was due!)


The results are in for Halle.
She got 4 votes in the cute but more naughty category and
1 vote in the naughty but more cute category.

Thank goodness for Julie who apparently is wise way beyond her years and is able to see what's really in a childs heart. She is the 1 vote in the naughty but more cute category. Apparently all Halle's extended family doesn't know what they're talking about!!!!!

I think my vote as her mother cancels out everyone elses and I vote that she is naughty- mischievous would be a better word- however she is CUTE beyond words!!!!!

Thanks for voting everyone- stay tuned for future mischievous but cute events in her life!!

I'm taking a vote

I'd like to get a consensus on the following subject:




Your choices on this vote are as follows:
1. Cute
2. Naughty
3. Naughty but more cute
4. Cute but more naughty

I'd like to give you a little background on the above subject so you can make an educated vote.

On the cute side of the vote:
-always gives mom lots of hugs and kisses
-always tells mom and dad how much she loves us
-almost always shares her toys willingly
-picks mom lots of flowers
-says the funniest things
-look at that smile- oh wait- maybe that mischievous smile belongs on the naughty side
-Is almost always a joy to be around

Now to counter the cute and to give info on the naughty:
- Well I can only think of 1 thing right now! Go back up and look closely at the picture- notice anything?????










SHE CUT HER BANGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have only been growing those bangs out for over 1 YEAR NOW!!!!!!

I didn't notice it right away yesterday but at the supper table all of a sudden I noticed it and she just looks at me like what... no... I didn't cut my bangs mom....
with a little smirk on her face.
Finally she admitted it and tells me she doesn't like it in her face. I asked her what she did with the hair and she tells me she was at centers at school yesterday and she just left it on the floor.
WHERE IS THE TEACHER SUPERVISION I ASK????? Just kidding- I know they can't be everywhere.

So anyway- you be the judge and let me know where your vote falls. I'll tally them up and let you know the results later.

Shhhh....I'm tring to catch a quick nap

Let me begin this quick story by explaining last week's mornings to you.
I always get up at 6:40 on Monday and the rest of the week I get up at 6:55. Last week 3 out of the 5 days I got up and Nick was still sleeping. That gave him 10 minutes to get out to the bus. One time he set his alarm wrong, one morning he hit snooze and kept sleeping and we're not sure what happened the last morning.
Well today my alarm went off and I got up and once again no Nick! So I holler downstairs a time or twenty and finally I hear him come up the stairs. Now I hop into the shower, get done, and I'm starting on my hair and he comes into the bathroom with a smirk on his face and tells me "Mom it's 5:50!"
It is not I told him- yes it is he says again. I pick up my watch and yes it's not even 6:00 yet!!!
Now he's laughing at me because when he got upstairs this morning I told him a little emphatically that he's got to figure out what's going on with his alarm because this was getting a little crazy with not waking up on time.
Arianna had gotten up and gone into my room- thank goodness she fell back asleep and Halle's still sleeping so at least they will get their normal sleep.
I think today the couch is going to be calling me for a nap but I'll try to stay strong! Good thing I have a lot I need to get done today.
Actually I better go right now and fix MY alarm clock!

Laura- you better watch out!

Laura- I think you better put your flower business into high mode. There is an aspiring flower designer coming up quickly on your heels!
Now that it's spring us moms get a lot of bouqets, but Halle came in the other day with this one that she designed all by herself. I liked how she surrounded all the flowers with grass. She was pretty proud of herself. It's still sitting in my kitchen all beautiful and sneezy!!!

Halle's Accomplishment

I'm very proud of her- she learned very quickly with a little competition that I mentioned regarding Shaelyn!!
I'm also a little sad because this is about the last milestone for awhile. They grow up so very fast!

Fun on the Trampoline

Sunday when we got back from the beach the kids were all hot and wanted to put the sprinkler under the tramp. I let them since they all needed to get cleaned up anyway! Look at the bottom one- that's so cute how Halle is trying to avoid being hit by Nick's water gun- I can't imagine it mattered much since water was coming up from underneath her anyway!!
Oh the fun that was had! As I'm posting this- I'm looking outside and seeing all the rain- I'll take Sunday's weather again please! I know we need the rain so it's fine- I'll quit complaining!

An amazing CD

I have come across the most amazing CD. When Heather posted about her favorite song and how it's so fitting for what she's going through- she put this song on her blog.
You have to go listen to it. The first time I listened to it I had tears streaming down my face. I went and bought the CD and I'm so glad I did. It is amazing!
The whole CD is so good- the words are so powerful. I'm trying to pace myself and not have it on constantly but it's hard- this music just speaks to me!
Go to http://www.mercyme.org/main/
On the right hand side of the screen you can launch the audio player and here a couple of the songs. I really like "No More No Less" and "So Long Self" also.
If you ask real nice I might be able to get you a cd of this!!

What an awesome weekend!

We had such a great weekend. Arianna had a soccer game on Saturday - they won which was nice since they lost last week. She also had a nice surprise because Uncle Duane came to watch her play. She was excited to see him. I've made a realization- she plays better when no one extra is there. She still did good but when people are there to watch her she's very distracted trying to pay attention to them and not the game!!
On Sunday we went to church and then had home groups but then we grabbed lunch and took it out to the beach. What an absolutely beautiful day! The weather was spectacular!
We went for a walk on the boardwalk and walked all the way out to the pier. It was chilly out there but still beautiful! On the way back we let the kids play in the sand. Actually I just wanted to walk in it because boy did I wear the wrong shoes and my feet were absolutely KILLING me! We had to reward ourselves at the end with ice cream- it was so good!!
Here are my favorite pictures- sorry there are so many but I really loved these shots.
1. Arianna
2. Halle
3. Nick
4. No trespassing- you see the 2 naughty ones who don't obey the rules!
5. People windsurfing
6. The kids and me- You know I don't normally post pictures of myself but I had to post this one.Click on the picture to enlarge it. I've always thought Nick looked just like Mark but look at this picture- I really think his face looks like me here! What do you think??
7. Nick
8. The kids in a dune
9. Halle rolling down the dune- look at that face- do you think she's having fun?
10. The kids jumping off the stone- I love that I caught this in motion!

Wow!

OK- Here's the latest total for Heather---$14,778.92. That is just incredible! Here's the latest thank you from Heather.
I will be praying for amazing news from the 2nd opinion!

Just as a random picture- Halle was on the trampoline the other day and she was rubbing her head on it to get as much static as she could to make her hair stand up. This was the end result!
Have a great weekend!

Heather results

Wow- as of 10:00 last night the fundraiser has raised $8,989.86- almost $9,000.00!!!!
That is so wonderful- it is just amazing to see God's people come together and help someone who is hurting- what a great feeling to be part of this!
Have a blessed day!

For Heather

Today is the day for the love offering for Heather who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
If you feel led to contribute to her and her family during this devastating time go here
This will take you to BooMama's place and you can hit the button there to give.
I'll try to give updates as BooMama posts them.

An afternoon visitor

Yesterday afternoon about 4:30 I hear some commotion outside so I figured the daycare kids dad was here to get them. I start rounding them all up and I head outside and I hear all kinds of excitement going on. Next I hear the girls voices-
"Uncle Duane- Uncle Duane" Well he rode the quad over to give the kids rides and they were so very excited! You would think he would have learned his lesson since either last year or the year before he got pulled over by a cop for doing this- I guess he really loves his nieces because they can't get enough of it. Good thing our road isn't busy so he can get away with it!
Ryan sat there just staring at the quad so Duane asked if he wanted to go for a ride also- I had to say no because I know there is no way Brenda would let him do that!
What a good Uncle the kids have!

Prayers needed!

While we're praying for Heather please lift up Kelly again. Here's her latest post
and she's really struggling.

For Heather

Because BooMama can write this much more eloquently than I can I'm directing you here.
I will put the link up on my site on Wednesday also if you feel led to help.
Even though I don't know Heather it's just such a heart wrenching situation I think as a mom we all can sympathize but not even begin to fathom what she is going through right now.
Give your kids a hug today and thank God for your health!!

My new baby!

Here's a look at the newest addition to our garage!
I'll give you the whole unexpected story. Last Saturday Mark and I decided to go out for dinner just the 2 of us because our Anniversary was on Thursday and then to top off the exciting night we were going to get groceries! Can you tell it's been 16 years!!
We didn't make it very far- soon I noticed cold air blowing out of the vents and I asked Mark why there was cold air blowing when the temp was registering fairly warm.
About a whole 30 seconds later he says Oh no- we've got to get off the road we're overheating.
So that's how our romantic night began. Sitting in a parking lot for 25 minutes waiting for our van to cool down so we could attempt to get it home. Thankfully we made it. Well we changed the thermostat to no avail and a very smart mechanic informed us it was probably the head gasket-sigh.....
Well we started checking our options because in talking with 2 other mechanics that we trust we were informed that it's very likely that once the head gasket go's in a vehicle with as many miles as ours has the engine will soon be departing also. sigh again....
Well to fix both of those problems you're talking at least 3500.00 and that's more than the van is worth so it really doesn't make sense to put more money into it.
We started looking around and found this van on a website for a car dealer. Tuesday night we went to look at it and when we took it for a test drive the amount on the windshield was 2,500.00 more than it said on the internet.
We liked the van and decided to buy it and the salesman went to corroborate our story about the price online. He came back chuckling and said there had been a mistake- someone had put the price that they paid for the vehicle online instead of what they wanted for it- but they had to stand by the price online! An interesting piece of into for you that the salesman shared with us- if you look at the yellow tag that they have all the info on the key ring- on the body style number- there will be a number. That is usually what they paid for the vehicle so the salesman knows how much they can barter with you. Mark noticed that number while we were waiting and it was the amount online so he figured that was what happened.
So we got a 2,500.00 break on the vehicle- it's about time a little good luck falls our way!!
It's a 2005 Caravan- it's got higher miles than I would have liked but it's what we could afford and I've heard from a couple different sources now that the miles on these new vehicles doesn't matter like it used to. It was owned by a company so we know it was well taken care of and they are highway miles. It's got a 2 year warranty also!
I know worldly possessions don't bring happiness but this is a very similar feeling to happiness I must say!!!!!

Wednesday kids slumber party

Yesterday our Wednesday gathering was at my house. We were all sitting in the living room when I heard something in my bedroom. I went to check it out and this is what I found:







Apparently, Halle being the gracious host that she is brought most of the kids (yes I said most- there are actually more than this!) into my bedroom for a little party of their own. If you look closely she brought in a bag of pretzels- which I'm not sure she was sharing with any of her guests! They had games in there just in case watching cartoons wasn't enough entertainment. I thought it was so cute I had to get a picture.

AWWWWWW!

Halle just came up to me and gave me a big hug and said
"I want to have a daughter just like you because I love you so much!"

That girl can just make my hear melt!

Frankenmuth

Over spring break we went to Frankenmuth for a short little vacation. We stayed in Birch Run and the first day we went to the outlet mall and did a little shopping. I didn't find many deals but I did find some capris for Arianna and that's what I mainly was shopping for so it was still fun.
The next day we went to Frankenmuth to walk around town there. It was unusually quiet there. I'm assuming it was because the weather was so crummy but I've never seen it be so empty. At Bronners Christmas store when we got there it was us and about 5 other families- very strange! The kids apparently couldn't quit thinking of members of our family because they were looking at a wood carving and informed us that Uncle Bob could have carved that better. Then we were walking in Bronners and they have decorations all hanging down from the ceiling and the girls told me that it wouldn't be good for Aaron to be here because the decorations would hit him in the head!
Even though the weather was cold, we still had a good time and it was a nice little break!

Anniversary

Easter egg hunt

Every year I do an egg hunt for the kids. This year however was a little different because we had to have the hunt inside the house because for crying out loud- there's snow outside!!!
The kids still had a lot of fun and I have to say I did too- I love to really hide the eggs good and see how long it takes for them to find them!
Here's Arianna finding one in her boot!





Every year there is 1 "golden egg" and it has money in it. It was Halle's year to find it (Nick found it the first year, then Arianna so it was Halle's turn this year and she wasn't forgetting!} Everyone had found all of their eggs and the golden egg still hadn't been found so Halle said "I'm going to open my eyes real big so I can see the golden egg" I quickly snapped a picture- this is what she did!


It must have worked because shortly there after here she is spotting the egg in her chandelier!

small vacation

I forgot to mention that we leave tomorrow for a little get away- unfortunately not far enough away that it will be warm. We're just going for a couple of days and I won't be posting. I'll post all about it when I return.
Have a great rest of the week!

Here's a snack idea for you!

Saturday we got together with friends and I gave the kids all popsicles for snack. The kids were still coming upstairs and sneaking potato chips. I see Halle come up and trying to sneak away with a whole bag of pretzels. I told her no and she went back downstairs. A little while later, Arianna comes up and tells me Halle's eating pretzels downstairs. I was surprised because I didn't see her come up again and I asked Arianna- she's got the whole bag of pretzels down there?
No mom- she's eating them off of her picture!
We quickly got her upstairs because the picture was something she made at school of a log house and the pretzels were the logs- GLUED- to the paper!
We were relieved to realize that the glue did a very good job and held to the paper so she didn't eat any glue.
Here's a picture of the way we found the poor log house!
So if you ever need a snack idea for your kids just get out their old school projects- you'd be amazed at the possible snack ideas!!

Arianna to the rescue

Mark has been trying to get the lawn raked up for a number of weeks now. This weekend was when it was finally happening. Nick is usually the one who gets out there and helps him with jobs like this. However, Nick was in Chicago with the youth group for a work weekend. Next thing I know, I look out and there's Arianna raking right alongside dad. What a good helper she was and she loved it too- it made her feel very important to be trusted with this big job. Good job Arianna!!

They do love each other (sometimes!)

Nick was bored last weekend so he got out his tools and started taking things apart (with my permission.)
He took apart the old wooden bench (the naughty chair- now they just have a naughty corner)and with the wood from the bench he decided to make Arianna a boat. Halle had made one last year for Kindermusik so Arianna didn't have one. Well Arianna was quite excited with her new toy.
It's so nice when they get along!