Heidi this picture is for Chris! This is the view off of our deck! And yes those are all dandelions!!!

John's brother Jim and a almost 5 pound bass that he caught this morning! For those of you that are wondering they did let it go!

Nevaeh got in this one!!!

So nothing really going on in the life of us lately. John's brother Jim came up from North Branch for a couple of days of fishing and golfing. We were going to go to the park yesterday but got rained out so we spent a couple of hours at the Barton's playing with the boys.

I think Nevaeh has finally got the hang of going potty on the toilet! She was dry yesterday morning, and today so far. So... Hopefully we can be down to one in diapers all the time, and just the pull ups for the older two, or maybe she will just be dry all the time and not even need the pull ups!!! I would just be dreaming right!?!?!?

Couple of days

So I don't really have alot to say, but think I need to put something on here. I check all of my favorite blogs just waiting for someone to put something on there, so for those of you that really want to know what is going on in my life....

Yesterday I did get most of my house cleaned up, but about 20 minutes later the kids had it trashed again, and they don't seem to care, so unless someone is going to stop over, I am just going to make sure we have clean clothes, clean dishes, a semi clean room, vacuumed floors, and the garbage taken out often. I don't really care if the house is clean so....

I also made bread yesterday. And all I can say is practice makes perfect I haven't practiced enough! The kids and I have been eating it, but wouldn't give to company!

Today I didn't really do anything, well I made caramel rolls, which the girls from Bible study liked, but John told me to work on them some more.... They are his moms caramel rolls and so I knew that he wasn't going to like them, but I still kinda hoped. Nothing that I try of hers is good enough for him, but I guess I either need to quite making them then or learn to deal with the fact that he isn't going to like them as much as hers. We also went to the dump! Yeah for those of us that live in the country and aren't able to have someone come pick it up for us. Then on to Bible Study. Can I just say that I love having a group of women that I can talk honestly to, that opened their hearts and homes and everything to me. I can't tell you how great it is to have that kind of support group behind you. So for those of you that read this THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Now I think it is tomorrow, so I need to head to bed!

Don't try this at home

I was sent this video in an email and watched it and it is totally cool so I have to share it with you. The email was titled "Don't try this at home."(if you click on the stuff in quotation marks it will take you there)
Hope you enjoy that!

I am now going to spend the day cleaning my house, and I am going to try to not be on the computer again until later tonight...so...........

Day at Grandma Kris'

Wyatte getting his shovel loaded by Grandma!He actually did really well with moving the grass from the ground to the wheelbarrow. I don't think he spilled anything!
Nevaeh helped Grandma pull the tarp to move the leaves that we raked up.
Aubrie was having fun on the floor on her tummy.
Daddy was getting Wyatte's fishing rod ready to go fishing.Wyatte caught this one all by himself! It wasn't really big, but he had fun!Neither one of the kids were very scared of the fish, Wyatte helped catch all three. Two bass, and one sunny. John cleaned them all so Wyatte can eat the fish he caught!!!

Memorial Day was spent at my mom's house helping her get the yard ready for Paul's grad party. Raking up gravel that the plow pushed into the yard, and leaves from the fall. John and Kirk also started redoing the boards under the picnic tables in the yard, and put the dock in. We cooked hot dogs on the grill and enjoyed lunch with Mom and Kirk. Paul unfortunately was MIA for the whole day, well except for supper!!! There is still some work to do, but should all be done in time for the party. Hope to see some of you there!

Today was the last MUMS meeting. Next week starts the park schedule! So every Tuesday for the summer we will be the park playing with a ton of other kids, and I get MOM time!!! Yeah for me!

John got his first call about the Jeep that we are trying to sell. Not really sure how serious the guy was, but hey it was interest! If anyone else knows someone that is looking for a Jeep Wrangler let us know.

God's beauty

This is Paul (my brother) and his girlfriend. (this is a picture of a picture that Krislyn had up at her grad party. Paul and Krislyn think it was taken in 9th grade, but weren't quite sure) They have been dating on and off, mostly on though, since 8th or 9th grade. They both graduate this year, and are planning on going to St. Scholastica (I don't think I spelled that right, but...) in the fall. Paul is going into nursing and Krislyn is either going to major in Education or Business. She hasn't decided yet! I just had to post this pic because I think it is sooooo cute! I can't believe that Paul is graduating in a few days. My how the time flies.


The following are just some pics that I took of the scenery after a "storm" passed through. I thought the clouds were beautiful and had to share them with you all! They are in reverse order of what I took them in, but I couldn't get them to go right and didn't feel like taking any more time to get them in here. They don't need to be in the right order, just enjoy the beauty of God's creation!
i think the pic above this writing is one of my new favorite pictures.isn't it magnificent what God can do with a little water, and the sun!

Sprouts! and other tidbits!

This was what Nevaeh looked like when she woke up from her nap! She takes her rubberbands that hold her ponytails out when she sleeps, but her hair stays up!!!
Wyatte takes it upon himself to help Aubrie when she starts crying, the only thing is he leans on her feet when he does it and makes her cry harder!
I bought some dried fruit for the kids and I the other day, and they loved it, the only thing was it was 4$ for a little fruit snack size box. So I borrowed a dehydrator from my in-laws and made my own!! These are apricots.
The kiwi are delicious dried!
The strawberries are pretty good too! I also had apples, pineapple and orange segment in there! I have to admit that I have eaten more of them than the kids, but they are like eating candy, only better for you!
I have sprouts in my flower boxes!!! I have been patiently waiting for them to come up and finally they are here!!! I have hollyhocks, cornflowers, sweet peas, and another orange and red flower that I can't remember the name of. Wyatte picked out the ones that I can't remember, Nevaeh picked out the cornflowers because she liked the color, and I got the hollyhocks because I absolutely love them, and I got the sweet peas for John because he loves the smell. Now if I can only get the sweet peas to come up. I have planted them every year since we came home with no luck, so.... pray for them!!!! I got a different kind this year again, so...
Wyatte picked these out for me after the camping trip that he went on with Grandma and Grandpa Hoard. They were picking out flowers for John's sister's adult care home, and Wyatte asked who they were for and Grandma told him Noah's mom (John's sister) and Wyatte started crying and said that his mom would want some too, so Grandma let him pick some out for me and this is what he picked. And the reason why he picked them... they look like dandilions!!!


On a different topic all together. Nevaeh woke up dry this morning and then pee'd on the potty right away. She actually woke up and told me that she had to go! Yesterday she stayed dry after her nap too! She even pooped on the potty, which she hasn't done before. So I think we made a few strides in the potty training. She did have an accident in church this AM but... the nursery worker took her three times and I tried once, but.... she pee'd when the parents started coming to pick up the kids. Oh well.

Well, got to get running, the start of the grad parties is today!

long day

Aubrie has started "talking" and will sit in her swing a little longer than before, but only if the animals are pulled out so that she can see them. She sits there and just smiles and smiles and talks and talks and smiles some more! So much fun to see her grow up and develop!
All dressed up and ready for our walk. This is one of the first times that she has been out in the sun! She was in my baby wrap and covered for most of the walk, but she did get to enjoy the weather with us. As she gets bigger she will be able to enjoy it more with us!
Just another pic of her talking to the giraffe. Yes, I do know it is upside down and I am not quite sure why, but it is! It does make it closer to her and easier for her to talk to!!!


Today started early again, I don't know why my kids have to get up so early, but they do. Today was a little later, but still before 6! Nevaeh was still tired, very crabby and wouldn't lay back down in bed. She wanted to be held, but I needed to get stuff going for John for the day. She was mad because I wouldn't hold her and sat down behind me. I got started making John's lunch, and got his coffee started and I turned around and Nevaeh was sleeping on the kitchen floor with her baby doll in her arms! Of course I couldn't find my camera, so... No pics, but can't you just see her? She slept there for a good 30 minutes! Until John went into the kitchen with his work boots on and woke her up. Then Wyatt brought her some cereal and she sat there on the floor eating cereal for another 30 minutes or so! What a kid!!!

I got some more of my house clean today, but not enough of it. I have been lazy lately with the house work, and realized that I need to start keeping on top of it. They tell me that if you keep a clean house it takes less time to clean!!! :) So I am trying.

Today Aubrie and I were sitting in my glider and Wyatte "woke up" from a nap that I later realized he never took, but anyways, she was "talking" to me and I was asking her what she was telling me in her story and Wyatte asked if he could tell her a story too. This is about how it when...
One day, when I (Wyatte) was outside playing, I was outside playing with my digger, my mom, you, didn't know that I was outside, but I was outside playing with my diggers, and Xander (our dog) was running around, and I was playing with the mean digger and mom didn't know I was outside. I was having fun playing outside with my digger without mom....

And so forth and so on! Every once in a while he would throw in a new tidbit ( like about the dog...) but for the most part for about 5 minutes he told Aubrie that he was outside playing with his digger! It was pretty cute.

This afternoon a friend, from high school that I have been reconnecting with, and I went for a walk with my three kids (two in the wagon and one in my baby wrap) and her daughter (in a stroller) and a baby that she was babysitting (in my other baby wrap)! We were quite the group! We did pretty good the first 2 miles, and then on the way back Ava decided that she was hungry and Beth didn't have a bottle for her, and then Wyatte and Nevaeh decided to start hitting each other, and then 'Veah fell out of the wagon. So lucky for us we walked right by John's parents house and I dropped my two kids off to play there and Beth and the girls and I walked back to my house. We got back here and Beth made a bottle and Ava scarffed it down! All together I walked about 4 miles, pulling the wagon and carrying a 12 pound baby! Pretty good exercise for me! I need to start walking during the day more, because, as John pointed out tonight, I am still pretty white! I do have my first tan lines, but still need to get darker!

This is a better picture of the leaves on the tree off of our deck. I love this time of year.

Anyways, I went for another walk tonight. The same distance as last night, took me a little longer. My shins started to hurt right away, but I just walked right through it. Then I ran a little, and about a mile later realized that my phone had fallen out of my pocket during that short run. At least it was later at night and there weren't many people on the road! I did find it, and it works just fine. Tonight wasn't as moving as last night, but I think the songs didn't really touch me like the ones last night (the ones tonight were a combination of disney songs, and country ones) So I guess as I am walking and watching the sun set I should be listening to the praise and worship and Christian songs that are on my player. I am still looking for more songs to put on, so let me know your favorite artist, or song so that I can add to my collection!

Pictures!

I bought this truck for the kids at a garage sale last week, and they love it. They are trying to "fix" it right now! Just let me tell you that there is nothing wrong with it, they just decided that they needed to fix it.
Nevaeh driving the truck.
So of the new leaves on the tree off our deck.
Just another shot of the new leaves!
Wyatte wanted me to take a picture of the dandelions that he picked for me. This is only one of many that I received just yesterday. My big girl! She still likes to be held all the time, and is getting to the point that she is heavy unless I have her in the baby wrap. Her shirt is one that I got at her shower, it says "don't laugh Daddy dressed me"
The kids decided that they were magicians and that these were their hats!
Wyatte tried one on Nevaeh, but decided that it was too big!This is a picture of both kids in the same towel. I hadn't folded the clean towels yet, so John used a large one and put both kids in it! They were really cute, but by the time we got the camera ready, this is what we got!

Beautiful Day!

So today was absolutely gorgeous! The kids and I headed into town early this AM to get me some summer shoes, really just some cheap flip flops and imitation crocs. I also got Nevaeh a pair of really cute "crocs" and Wyatte a pair that look like sandals. We then came home and played in the yard for a little bit, and then off to bed. A friend called me while we were outside to see if I wanted to go for a walk with her when the kids woke up. So they woke up about 1:30 and we headed into town. She ended up having a couple of errands to run, so we bummed around town waiting for her to get home. I saw a bunch of black smoke pouring into the sky from a few blocks away from us, and so like the other 8000 people in GR today had to try to get close enough to see what was going on... Someone's garage burned up, not down, some of it is standing up still. Then it was off to Beth's to get ready for our walk. It was a nice walk, very warm, and the kids were pretty bad, but the walk felt great. I think it was about 2 1/2 miles all together, took about 45 min. with all the stops that we had to make for me to yell at my kids for littering, or dumping juice on the other one and all the other stuff that kids do when they are in close quarters. Then home to get supper ready for John, the kids a bath, and then too bed for them. John and I sat on the couch for a while, and then I decided to go for another walk. I walked from our house to John's parents and back, about 2 miles, maybe a little more, and I did it in under 40 min. So yeah for me. usually it takes me that amount of time just to get there with the wagon. Amazing how much slower I walk with it. I also had my mp3 player in and got to listen to praise and worship music the whole time. It was awesome! I can't wait to do it tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

music???

I am looking for some good songs to put on my mp3 player for when I walk. Any suggestions? I like country, christian and a soft rock ( no head banging, can't understand the words crap...). Something upbeat, but sentimental too... Let me know.

Thanks.

Another Tuesday!

So today started out a little earlier than I wanted it too, Nevaeh was up at about 6:15, but at least it wasn't earlier than that! Wyatte was up shortly after that, and Aubrie was up right away after him. They ate an early breakfast of grapes and toast while I tried to stay awake while feeding Aubrie! I think I ended up dosing off a couple of times but not for long. I did a few things around the house, and then we headed into McDonald's for a play time with the MUMS moms! There were 5 moms there and 14 kids between us! Oh, plus baby Barton, to be born in about 8 weeks! The kids are all under 5 or so, I think, out of all of the kids only 2 are older than Wyatte, so...

After the fun at McDonald's, I dropped the kids off at Linda and Laverne's and headed to the doctor again. I had a IUD put in, so no more "pill" babies for us!!! If I get pregnant right now, then God really wants me to have my kids close!

Then home to lay the kids down for a nap, and get a few more things done in the house. I got supper started, made apple crisp, washed dishes, folded 2 loads of clothes and watched Rachel Ray. Valerie Bertinelli was on there today talking about her weight loss, and she did a couple of surprises for a couple of Rachel's viewers. I know that I have put weight on since John and I met, and really since we got married, and yes even in the last 3 years with all the being pregnant, and even with the weight that I lost being pregnant with Aubrie I am still about 60 to 75 pounds heavier than I want to be, so I am going to start losing the weight that I have put on in the last 6 years. No more excuses, no more nothing. I am going to start walking more, and looking into getting a gym membership so that I can work out. A friend of mine from high school is walking between 3 and 7 miles a day now, and if I lived closer to her I would walk with her, but I am just going to have to settle for walking alone (well with the kids if John isn't home). And hopefully get to a point that I can run some of it off! I am also going to start keeping a detailed food journal, so hopefully that helps too. Please keep asking me how this is going because if I have people checking on me, that is going to keep me accountable and on track!

Sorry, forgot the camera today, but will make sure I get pics of all the kids, and put them up here for all of you to see!

Back online!

John getting his turn on the slide!
Nevaeh went down a slide and got her pants all wet! This is her 1st time climbing up the ladder and I think that she actually made it all the way to the top!
Aubrie's first swing ride! Mommy didn't last very long, because even thinking of swinging makes her dizzy! Thanks Amy for the wrap we love it!
Wyatte and Cousin Noah at the campground with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tuffy!
Playing at the playground in the campground!


I finally got my computer back on line! So here is a really long update of what has been going on in our lives since Mother's Day which was my last blog!!!

Ok, so my computer is not working again… I am not totally sure what is wrong with it this time. It won’t connect to the wireless signal that we have been getting our internet from, so… I am calling today to see if we can just get a wired connection to our apartment. So this post is being written in Word, and will be pasted into my blog, just so that I remember what is going on in my life!

So, let’s see… Monday was the last day of the library storytelling group that we have been going to. So that was sad, the kids are just starting to sit still long enough to enjoy it, and so now that we have to wait until the fall for it to start again… We are going to have to start all over, but I guess they will all be a little older, so that should make it a little easier right?!?!? The children’s librarian is also retiring after being there since 1956, so we had cake and made cards for her. She has been there as long as I can remember; even my dad said that she has been there as long as he can remember!!! So that is going to take some time to get used to, a new face at the children’s desk.

Tuesday was MUMS. Another great topic and discussion after. I left Aubrie in the nursery for the first time. I think that was the longest time since she was born that she hasn’t been in the same room as me! She lasted over an hour, but then was sooooo mad at me for leaving her that she was crying so hard that she couldn’t eat. So I ended up with breast milk dripping all over my shirt and by the time she settled down enough to eat, I was soaked!!! So that wasn’t fun, but at least we survived. The church that we go to has pagers that they give to the parents to let them know if their child/ren need them, and we have never had ours go off, until Tuesday! I started leaking and about 2 seconds later the pager went off. I went to the nursery and she was hungry! I have heard of this happening before but never experienced it myself… I can tell when she is hungry if we are in the same room, because I start leaking, but this time she was in a totally different room with two solid wood doors between us!!!

I also had my postpartum appt. on Tuesday. Everything is good so far!

Wednesday included packing Wyatte for a camping trip with Grandma Linda, Grandpa Tuffy and Cousin Noah! So it is just the girls during the day until Friday! He was so excited about going that he was up early and wanted to get dressed and on the road! They all went last year and had a blast, so they went again this year. Linda and Lavern just bought a new camper and this is the first trip with it!

John came home from work Thursday night and took a bath and then decided that he wanted to go up and go walleye fishing, so we packed the girls up and we headed to the campground so he could go fishing. Nevaeh played with Wyatte and Noah, and Aubrie and I sat around the fire with Grandpa and Grandma. John didn’t catch anything, our landlord/neighbor was up there as well and he caught one. John brought it home to clean it but there ended up being a very gross worm in it that John saw when he was starting to clean it so it ended up in the garbage. Gave both of us the willies……

Today is Thursday, and the girls and I are going to head off to a few garage sales! I did really good last week, so let’s see how we do this week!!!

Garage sales didn’t go as good as I hoped, but still a few things. I got Wyatte a lot of play clothes. Nice shirts and pants that only had a couple of small stains on them for $.10 so not too bad. Nothing else really. I don’t remember doing anything else that day, so even if we did do something it wasn’t very exciting!!!

Friday morning started a little later than usual because Nevaeh slept until 7!!! Yeah for me! We then got ready and headed over to the Barton’s for a little play date for Nevaeh and Aubrie and a little “mom” time for me! I have talked about the Barton family on here before, Heidi and Chris are the parents (they both went to school with John and we now go to church with them for those of you that don’t know) and they have twin boys, Sam and Seth, which turned two earlier in the year. They are also expecting a little girl in July. Both of my kids love to play with them, but since Wyatte was camping it was all Nevaeh that day! They play together quite well, and I enjoyed some time to visit with Heidi. She had bought some fabric to make me another baby wrap, and it was done, so she gave that to me. I brought along the book that has all the ways to wrap with and she made a copy so she can use the wrap that she made for her! Chris is going to take pictures of my kids sometime this spring and so we looked at some of the pics that he has taken in the past so that I had some idea of what he could do! It was a fun morning, time just flew by!

The weather was really weird today. It started sunny, but then would rain for like 10 minutes and then be sunny again and then rain and be really windy and this went on all day. Was really hard to get anything done outside!

That afternoon, Aubrie had her two month checkup. She is now 11 pounds 11 ounces and 22 ½ inches long. She is in the 50^th percentile for everything pretty much. We just moved up in diaper size, so at least she is growing right! I know both Wyatte and Nevaeh were in size 1 diapers long before Aubrie, but… She also got her first set of shots. She hated them, which is no surprise! But I did have to give her some Tylenol to get her to calm down later.

That night the young marrieds group had a game night! It was a game that I have never heard of, but ended up being fun. We rotated a lot, so you got a chance to visit with everyone that was there! It was fun!!

Saturday was a pretty boring day if I remember right. We did have a pretty bad storm that night. Hail, rain, wind, power out for a few hours… We ended up going into town for supper because we didn’t even have anything in the house that we could eat cold, so A & W it was.

Sunday the kids and I headed into Sunday School by ourselves because John wasn’t feeling well. We made it in time! I told John to stay home from church if he still wasn’t feeling good, but he showed up, late but he did come. Then to McDonald’s like we do every Sunday so that the kids can lay down for a nap right away when we get home. And then off to home and a nap. John too! Then John went fishing again. I think he has only been home two nights since opener. The kids and I went to my mom's to see her, and help her with getting ready for Paul's grad party. We didn't get much done because Kirk called and needed a ride somewhere and I needed groceries, Mom decided to come to the store with me! It took a really long time in Walmart. Oh, did I forget to tell you?!?!? We have a superwalmart in town now! It still takes me a while to find stuff which is why it took almost 2 hours!

Today is Monday and the week starts all over again. Tomorrow is a MUMS play day, so off to McDonalds again!

Mother's Day

This is what the John and the kids brought home for me for Mother's Day! I got it last night because they were so excited about what they picked out that they had to give it to me then! There is a strawberry flavoredangel food cake, a "Footprints" keychain that Wyatte picked out, a "Mom, I love you" circle keychain that Nevaeh picked out, and some individual cups of sherbet! MY FAVORITE!!! The card is a "My Little Pony card that talks to you. The kids loved it John said, and wouldn't even look at another one! I am going to add the video I took of the card talking to me too, so you can hear what it says, it isn't a very good view of the card, but you can still hear what it says!

Great Grandma Margaret helped Nevaeh color a picture today at Great Auntie Marilyn's house. We went out to lunch with John's family (mom, dad, grandma, uncle, sister and 2 neices and 3 nephews), then we headed to my Aunt Marilyn's house to spend some time with my family (mom, brother, aunt, uncle two cousins, grandma and a couple of the girls that my mom takes care of {my mom was working!})
Great Grandma Margaret, Aubrie and Grandma Kris hanging out in the kitchen! Grandma Margaret got Aubrie to smile too!!!
Cousin Ryan redid Auntie Marilyn's sandbox, and Wyatte and Nevaeh got to be the first ones to try it out! Wyatte was out there forever, and got his church clothes alllllll dirty, but isn't that was boys are good for! Nevaeh actually enjoyed it too!