April Fool's!

Can you believe what my sweet husband bought for me? Joe was so thankful that I have been such a good wife to him and great mom to his three babies, he stopped by the car lot and arranged to have this awesome ride delivered to my door. What a guy! Then, he's even taking care of the kids all weekend while I go out of town on a scrapbooking retreat with my big sis! I am so lucky!

Okay, you did read the title, right? You do know what today is, right? Yep, April Fool's! Did I getcha? For those of you who know my husband, I'm sure you knew that I was joking. He is keeping the kids all weekend while I scrapbook with Michelle, and I'm sure he is thankful (most of the time) for me, but I'm pretty sure he will never surprise me with a new car :)

Anybody else have some good April's Fool pranks up their sleeve? I'm trying to think of something to do to the kids, but I don't want to stress them out before school in the morning. Hmm...maybe I could Google some ideas. I'll let you know if I come up with anything good.

Spring Break...memories

No, this isn't our spring break from this year. Last May, we took the kids to Myrtle Beach and spent a week at Coral Beach Resorts. This year we stayed home and did work around the house...much more productive, a lot less fun, still about the same amount of work for me :) Today was a nice day, sunny and fairly warm, and we were able to go swimming (at the indoor pool) and play outside afterwards. Joe has painted our bedroom and put up a chair-rail and new trim and put new grout on his mom's kitchen floor and played with the kids and put up with me. I am off of my groove, having everyone home all day long, having to cook all day and entertain and be nice...way too much to ask, to be quite honest. What am I going to do on summer break? I think I'll be picking up some hours at the hospital if Joe doesn't find something to do during those months. I love being home with the kids, but I cannot stand to hear the words "I'm bored" when their rooms are filled to the brim with stuff to do! Makes me want to donate all their things to the Salvation Army and then let them complain about being bored. What do you do about that?! I have two months to come up with an anti-boredom plan for the summer; one that doesn't involve a lot of money or travel, with gas being over $3 per gallon. Any ideas?

Hope everyone else is having a great spring break. Can't wait to see the flowers bloom...I am already loving hearing the birds chirping away every morning, and there have been more robins than I can count in my yard this week. I love it!

Happy Birthday, Summer!

These pics were taken about a month ago, when I watched Summer while Becky got her hair done. Gabe has such a great time with her, and I love how gentle he is, sharing (most) of his toys and showing her how to play with them. For the longest time, he called everyone in Becky's family either "Summer" or "Summer-boy". Now he's finally learning their official names, and almost always gets them right :)

Summer turned one yesterday, and we helped her celebrate on Saturday with a party and an egg hunt at their house. She looked so adorable in her little duck-y dress, toddling around and wondering what the fuss was all about. Gabe loved "helping" her open her gifts, and you should have seen the sweet outfits she got for spring and summer. Thanks, Becky, for inviting us to share in this special day. We had a great time!

Happy Easter Weekend!

"The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.'" (Matthew 28:5-6)

On this holiest of Christian holidays, we have so many reasons to rejoice. Some of mine are: my freedom, my family, my health, my job, my home, my friends, my church, my Savior. What are some of yours?

I hope all of you have a blessed weekend. Have fun hiding eggs and baskets, eating chocolate and ham and green bean casserole until you puke (hopefully not on your Easter clothes!), and reflecting on what Easter really means to you.

If you have time, listen to this whole song ,"He's Alive". It's really good!

Buddies

Although Joe was content to stop after two babies, you would never guess it by watching him with Gabe. Those two are such BUDDIES! Joe has already taught him to hit a pitched baseball (that baby is only three years old!); he plays football and ping-pong and "racquetball" with him; he has taught him how to log onto hotwheels.com and play on the laptop sitting next to him, while he works on his computer. I love to see what a great dad Joe is...I knew he would be from the first month we were dating. He adores little kids, and he has such an easy way with them. And he's not just that way with Gabe...he coaches Elijah's baseball team, takes Isabel out to Olive Garden on "dates", and is always willing to put aside what he is doing to help them with whatever they need. My babies are so blessed to have such a great dad!

Thanks, YMCA!

I signed Elijah up for flag football last September hoping that he would have a good time and make some new friends, which he did. What I didn't think of was the fact that I, too, would make new friends. I am so grateful that God put Jake on Elijah's team, and that Jake's mom, Becky, and I hit it off so well right from the start. I can't believe we have only known each other six months...it seems much longer. We are so similar it is downright scary sometimes! And now that we have broken Becky into the game of euchre, we can have some great times with our husbands as well. Tonight we all had the best time eating dinner, playing cards, and just talking, and the kids did great together, too. The only one who needed a timeout was Ellie, our puppy; a house full of seven kids and four adults was just too much for the poor thing.

Thank you, Mike and Becky, for a great evening. I hope this is just the first of many great times together for our families!

MY Brown-Eyed Girl

I know I am biased, but you just gotta know what an awesome girl my daughter is. Isabel is the most mature, intelligent and downright adorable 8-year old that I have ever met. Everyone who is part of her life knows exactly what I am talking about, too. She is gracious, sweet to her brothers, helpful to me...I can't even say enough good things about her. God is so good to have given me a daughter like her.

Here are a few things I love about Isabel: her smile; her laugh; her musical talent (what a singer!); she loves to read (like me!); the way she takes care of her baby brother; her fashion sense; her sense of humor; her love of Jesus; the sweet prayer she says every night...these are just a few things...if I listed them all, Blogger would probably crash!

When Isabel was a baby, she hardly ever slept. She didn't sleep through the night, in her own bed, until she was four years old! When I would ask her why she wouldn't stay in her room, she would say "I just want to BEEEee with you". Let me tell you, at 3 o'clock in the morning, it really wasn't that cute, but it is cute to think of now. The point is, now that Isabel is 8 years old, she still likes to BEEEee with me, and I love being with her, too. I hope we always have that kind of relationship.

Isabel is looking over my shoulder as I type this, proofreading and making sure I don't put anything embarrassing in here. I guess it meets her approval!

What a Week!

At the beginning of the week, Gabe and I had so much fun playing in the snow. It warmed up to about 50 degrees, melting the snow a bit and making it super easy to build an awesome snowman. Gabe was in the mood to pose, so I got lots of pictures that day. Check out the snow drift on the side of our house! This is about the only way I will play in the snow...when it's not too cold to freeze my fingers off...

On our Wednesday morning Wal-Mart run, we ran into some local firefighters getting their lunch at the deli. Gabe had to run over and say "hi" to them, and they invited us to come to the firehouse anytime. Well, of course we took them up on it, and on Thursday we picked up Mamaw and Will and headed over to the Lebanon Firestation. I can't even tell you how nice they were, especially this fireman named Russell. He let Gabe climb into every fire truck, touch the knobs and dials, "drive" the truck, and even posed for a picture for this crazy scrapbookin' mom! Gabe cried and cried when it was time to go, and Russell told us to come back anytime. What a great experience! Gabe has not stopped talking about it since.

I can't believe how fast this week has gone. It took me two days to recover from my blizzard experience at the hospital, and with the time change I have been so behind. We all overslept on Monday, and that set the tone for the entire week. I'm so grateful for the beautiful weather yesterday...sunny and 60 degrees...windows open, reading a book on the deck while Gabe napped, and grilling out with Bob and Kay for dinner. Those men beat us again at euchre last night...the only reason being that when we were in the lead, Isabel got into a bike accident out front, and I had to be mommy-nurse for awhile, and that totally threw off our winning groove. That was all she wrote. I really thought my tattoo would bring me good card-winning karma...maybe because it's not all the way healed yet?

Here's hoping everyone has a great weekend, and that spring is on its way!

Last Spring...

This is what I can't wait to do this spring...enjoy my tulips, dig in some dirt, and play with worms with Gabe and Isabel (Elijah would rather play football with his buddies). I hope my bulbs survive this latest snowstorm...they were already poking up through the mulch, even though I told them to wait another week or so. So impatient (kinda like me).

Have had a great morning today...went to the Y, got a decent workout, ate some yummy lunch, and played out in the snow with Gabe for over an hour. It's 40 degrees, so the snow is starting to melt, and it is packing so well that we made an awesome snowman in just a few minutes. Of course, Gabe wanted to knock it right down with his baseball bat, but I convinced him to wait until Daddy and the kids see it after school first. Now he's down for a nap, and I'm getting ready to go organize my scrapbook stuff for my getaway weekend (only three more weeks!). Warmer weather is on the horizon, and my spirits are high. Life is good...

Cincinnati Blizzard!

Talk about in like a lion, out like a lamb! March brought us an incredible blizzard, complete with 12 inches of snow and 40 mph winds for nearly two days. Of course, the snow started on Friday, right before I was scheduled to go to work for a 12 hour night shift. So...I packed a bag and spent the weekend at the hospital, working and sleeping for almost 36 hours straight...I'm pretty sure I will never do that again!

This picture was on the WCPO news website; someone submitted their photo of one of the bridges in Cincinnati taken during the snowstorm...isn't it cool? Check out WCPO.com for more cool pictures.

We're going to spend the day playing in the snow, eating ourselves silly, and playing euchre 'til the girls win. Hope you have a great day!

Happy Sweet 16, Danielle!

Happy Birthday, Danielle! I wish I had a baby picture of you to put on here, too, so everyone could see how much you have grown. You were the most adorable baby, and I loved having you to myself your first summer when I babysat after your mom went back to work. That was the summer after I graduated high school, and I had so much fun spoiling you! You had the chubbiest, most kissable cheeks, and I loved to make you laugh. You were the first one to call me "Heddy", and you could dance to Barney on TV before you could even walk. I have so many sweet memories of you...do you remember going out into that huge snowdrift, saying "This is RIDICULOUS!" in your little toddler voice? It has been awesome watching you grow up into this beautiful young woman...I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you. One of my favorite bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11, and it is so perfect for this time in your life:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We love you, Danielle! Hope your birthday plans survive the snowstorm!

Tattoo Mamas!

Can you believe it? We did it! On Tuesday, to celebrate Becky's (21st) birthday, we got in my cool mini-van and headed out on our tattoo adventure. First, we went to PF Changs to eat and drink plum wine, then we drove to Roy's Tattoo Parlor in Mason to go under the needle. What a night! A much different culture than what we are used to. Roy wore his holstered gun the whole time he was tattooing me (we felt very safe). Randie, his wife, tattooed Becky, and she did a beautiful job, although it took twice as long as mine did. We only cried a little (just kidding!). Isabel asked me if I screamed...Becky's kids wanted to know if there was a lot of blood. And although we know it's a little crazy, sometimes you just have to step out of your box and do something nutty, so you don't GO crazy with all the mundaneness (is that a word?) of being a wife and mom. So, yes, now we are officially "Tattoo Mamas", and although you probably won't see our tattoos while we are Krogering or volunteering at our kids' school functions, we will know that they are there, and we will feel so cool and tough :) Thanks, Becky, for a great time on Tuesday...I haven't had that much fun in a very long time. Now we have to think of something to do for my birthday in October!

New baby card!

I can't take credit for the idea of this adorable "onesie" card...found the template on Splitcoaststampers and shamelessly copied it. I love it! I have left the inside blank for now, so I can customize it to be anything I need (birthday, new baby girl, birth announcement, etc.). I also have plans to make some baby boy ones...just bought some cute blue polka-dot paper from Hobby Lobby to play with. No scrappin' today, though, since it's supposed to get up to 60 degrees and Gabe and I will be playing outside as much as we can. My tulip bulbs are poking out through the mulch, and while I love to see them, I'm nervous they will freeze later this week when it snows again. Spring is so close I can taste it! Yay!

When I was in grade school, I wrote a cheesy poem about spring that I can still remember. Here it is:

The sun shines bright through my window

Interrupting my dreams of spring.

Flowers and kites and romance,

Mingled with birds that sing.

As I lay on my pillow just thinking

Of the joy that such things bring,

I remember it's only February,

And we still have to wait for

Spring.

I got a blue First Place ribbon for that...too funny what sticks in your head after all this time, isn't it? I do love spring, though, and I can't wait to get my hands in some dirt and plant the flowers I get from the Black Barn. Not too much longer...at least we're in March now!