moving

So we were just told that we have a month to move out of the apartment that we are in because a family member of the owner needs a place to live. So wish us luck and keep us in your prayers as we look for something affordable that the five of us can be comfortable in.

Bottles, bikes and Bob

I think I am making progress getting Aubrie to take a bottle. Today before we left for town she nursed a little, and then I pumped about 2 ounces and brought it with us. She drank the whole bottle with no problems when we were in Walmart. Then when we got home I nursed her again a little (she quit herself when she feel asleep) and then she took almost a 4 hour nap. John and I just fed her another bottle, 3 ounces this time, and she took it with no problems. So I guess this is an answer to prayers because if she didn't take a bottle then I wasn't going to be able to go back to work. Even though it will be part time, I don't need to go to work bad enough that I make other people miserable listening to her cry because she wants to nurse so bad. I just hope now that she doesn't decide that she likes the bottle better and quits nursing. I don't think I am disciplined enough to pump for an extended period of time, so it is either nurse and pump milk for when I am working, or formula most of the time, and some breastmilk. So now instead of praying that she takes a bottle please pray that she doesn't like it toooo much!!! Since I typed this earlier in the day, I have since nursed her twice with no problem, so hopefully it will stay that way. A happy medium with bottle and breast.

Last night at our Bible study we had just a fellowship time. It was wonderful. We women need that time to just talk as we want about what we want! There were a few of us missing because of the summer schedules and stuff, but it was still a great group of women. One of the moms had a baby a week ago, a little early, but both mom and son are doing great! So cute he is! Aubrie wasn't the only baby girl there either, one of the moms had a daughter on the 27th of March, so they are only 2 weeks apart. And Aubrie rolled from her back to her stomach for the first time last night!!! She has been able to go from her stomach to her back for a long time now, but this was the first time that she has gone from back to stomach! It was super exciting! I tried to get her to do it today, but she will only scoot her self in a circle on the floor! Her head stays in pretty much the same place, but her lower body goes around and around and around! I have a couple of pics on the camera but it is in the car and it is raining, so you are going to have to wait a while!!!

Wyatte got a bike tonight! It has been sooo humid today and I couldn't stand being in the house anymore, so we headed into town. We needed to return some movies and so we did that and then went to Walmart. John headed right to the bikes and they started looking at the smaller ones. Wyatte picked out the "Spidey" one as he says! He could actually pedal it around in the store, so we will see how he does in the real world!!! I should have been looking at garage sales for one, but oh well!!! If it isn't raining tomorrow we are going to help him get going on it! So I will get pics up of that for you!

Bob the Builder is going to be in town tomorrow too, so will have pics of that hopefully!!!

Poll...

I have a poll over to the right, please answer...

Nevaeh's birthday invite

I can't get this to go into my email, and so I am putting this here so people know when to come!!!

This is what I get for cleaning...

So this morning I cleaned the living room. I mean really cleaned. I pulled all the chairs out the middle of the floor and vacuumed under them, I rearranged the toys, organized the books. The whole kit and kaboodle.

The kids did a pretty good job of keeping it clean for the morning. Granted there were a few toys out every once in a while, but for the most part it stayed clean.

I am also on my fourth or fifth load of laundry.

This is the rest of the story.....

I was in the bathroom folding the load of towels that were done drying. I could hear the kids in the living room. I had laid out a blanket on the floor and they were eating "cheese tacos" (cheese inside to tortilla shells then cooking in the microwave) and talking about the show that was on TV. I thought to my self "they are being really good, I think I might let them stay up a little before I lay them down for a nap. I then moved the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer and started the water in the washing machine for the next load. I walk out the living room/dining room/computer room to get the towels from when we went swimming last night and this is what I see...

For those of you that don't recognize this, that is what used to fill up a WHOLE jar of Lawry's Season Salt. Yes my wonderful kids decided to color mom's chair and floor orange. Nevaeh got in trouble first because she was the one holding the jar when I found them. Wyatte got in trouble next because he was there, and then he got in trouble again for lying to me about who did it. He told me that it was all Nevaeh, ok easy enough to believe because she is a bit of a trouble maker. Then I looked at his hands as he was walking past me, and they are more orange than the chair and the floor. Now they are both in bed.


So for those of you that read this and laugh at the escapades of my two kids, I am posing this proposition to you. PLEASE COME GET THEM FOR A WHILE!!!!!

little tidbits

Sorry no new pics, just words.....

Today was one of the worst days that we have had in a long time. Nevaeh didn't sleep well last night, I blame that on the heat (and John). He decided to sleep in my bed last night and so I slept on the couch. Nevaeh always comes into my room during the night and just crawls in and snuggles up to me and we go back to sleep. Well John doesn't like to snuggle and with the heat he really couldn't handle it. He got up and ate some left over pizza, then later (I think) got up and had a bowl of cereal. He couldn't sleep because of her and yelled a bunch of times. GRRRRRRRRRRRR anyways so she was pretty tired today and took two naps, but was still tired and crabby all day. Wyatte skipped a nap a few days ago and apparently it caught up to him today because he was horrible too. During our time out at the pool he pushed Nevaeh over in the driveway and scraped her knees and legs up pretty good. I am pretty sure I even laid him down for his nap with no lunch.

We went to the lake again tonight! I think the kids are getting braver, but still to scared to do much alone. I actually went under tonight and then was messing around with Nevaeh and ended up getting her head under the water and then she "puked" the water that she swallowed. Wyatte hung on John's neck for a while when John was swimming. Aubrie even got mostly wet. She didn't cry until I pulled her out of the water and the wind was making her cold! On the way home from the lake John saw a turtle on the side of the road and I made him turn around so the kids could see it. They were a little scared at first, but after a couple of minutes around it Nevaeh was ok to touch it! She loves turtles! I should be doing a turtle party for her, but she wants bears!!!

I am not sure if I told you this in a past post, but I am going back to work in a couple of weeks, but to do that I need to get Aubrie to take a bottle. So I pulled out all of the different bottles and bottle nipples that I have and have been trying them all. I even pulled out one of the sippy cups with a larger silicon nipple. None of them worked. She would chew on them, but not get anything. Then tonight I found one that she actually sucked on and drank the whole 2 ounces that I had pumped for her! I was really excited!!! I tried again after we came back from swimming, but I think I tired her out too much because she wouldn't take it, or me for that matter. So I laid her down and she was out! So I guess I will try later tonight when she wakes up, or put it in the fridge for tomorrow.

One little funny bit... The other day we were driving around in the van listening to the radio and all of a sudden I start really listening to what Nevaeh is saying. She usually just talks to her self and sings to herself. This is what I hear..."don't even know my last name..." for those of you that don't listen to country music that is a pretty popular song right now! I don't remember if it was on the radio, or if she was just remembering it, but apparently I need to start listening to better music if my two year old can remember songs that well. In the shower today I was singing "Jesus love me this I know" and she started singing along with me. Then continued to sing it all day! It was pretty cute!

new pool

I bought this kiddie pool last fall when it was 75% off! Have never put it up though, so last night I told Wyatte that we could get it out today and play in it if it was nice. So this morning I got it out, blew it up, hooked up the hose and then them go at it! The yellow ring is filled with water and is supposed to spray water up in the air, but we don't have enough water pressure...or my hose had a leak...and it just trickled out. Unless someone stood on it and then it sprayed up high!!! The only thing is you have to keep the hose hooked up to the pool to keep it full (the sides become unfilled with water when the hose gets shut off and then the water in the pool flows out) and as you are filling it up the water runs all over the yard, so you can't sit down in the grass! Oh well, the kids had fun!

Parks and swimming

Today was sooo hot! We only lasted about an hour at the park before one of the moms invited us to her house to swim in her pool. It was great! The kids had fun and cooled off nicely. Us moms got to sit in the shade and still enjoy the company!

When the kids woke up from naps we were going to set up a blow up kiddie pool in the yard and swim, but Daddy came home right then and wanted to go swimming too, so we headed to the lake. It was a little cold at first but it felt great. Nevaeh was again scared to go in the water, but holding my hand she would walk a little bit out. John tried to get her to go out with him, but she just screamed. She was content to just play on the shore and gather rocks. She did get brave at the end and walk out a little on her own. We were at Bass Lake in Cohasset and for those of you that don't know, you can walk out over 100 yards and still be only at your waist or shallower. It is a great lake to take the kids to because of that. The water is shallow for ever...

Now we are home enjoying some pizza and a movie (that we have seen about 100 times... Cars.) Pretty soon is going to be bed time for everyone though and I am looking forward to that!

A swimming day at Grandma's!

Yesterday the kids and I headed out to Grandma Kris' to spend some time with her and swim! Grandma wasn't home when we got there, so we hung out on the deck and I tried to get Aubrie to take a bottle. She didn't think that was a good idea and pretty much cried the whole time. Then Grandma came home and she tried too and got her to take a little bit, but all in all she didn't even drink a whole ounce of pumped milk. I am just going to have to keep trying! Then we got the kids dressed for the lake (somewhere between the dresser and the van I lost Nevaeh's swimsuit top, thus the shirt she is in!). Wyatte grabbed a couple of trucks from the house and headed to the beach that Grandma has. They played around a little in the sand and then Wyatte jumped right in! It took Nevaeh a little longer because at Paul's grad party she slipped off the dock and was found hanging on the side screaming. She sat with Grandma and splashed her feet a little and then she saw Wyatte having so much fun that she jumped in! Only when I would hold her hand though!!! We swam a little bit and then headed home for supper and Wyatte fell asleep on the way home. I told him that if he was good he could just rest on the couch instead of taking a nap in his bed. He laid on the couch most of the time that he should have been sleeping so I let him stay up. Apparently he was tired though because he fell asleep pretty fast in the car when we left!!!

Today is park day. So getting the kids dressed and ready to go, packing a lunch, and getting the odds and ends ready that I need for other errands in town are things on my list this morning.

I did have to get a new camera. My old one got lost. Thankfully I had my memory card in the computer. I forgot to take it out and remember taking a couple pictures on the camera, but haven't seen it since then. So I went to Target and got another Kodak this one is the V1003. It is a 10 megapixel camera, which takes a little bit better pictures than my old one which was only 8.2. It was on clearance for 127 and change. The other 10 mega pixel cameras were 249.99 and over. So hopefully I will enjoy this one and not lose it!!!

One last side note. I am going back to work in a couple of weeks. Three mornings a week; Monday, Thursday and Friday. Monday and Friday will be 4AM-12:30PM and Thursday will be 5AM-1:30PM. These were the hours that I worked before I had Aubrie and liked them because I was home with the kids more when they were awake. John is working a very good job, but this will be extra cash to hopefully use to pay off some old debts that he/we have. Hopefully it will work out for me to work for a while anyways. My mom said she could watch them some and John's mom and dad said they could also. John's two oldest nieces live right down the road too, and I asked them if they would be able to help out as well. I will keep you updated on that goings on as well!

Better run, the kids are starting to wake up!

Prayers about John and I

Ok, so this is a different post for me, and I hope that I don't get too much grief for it. What I am hoping for is some encouragement and ideas as to how to change things.

I am not sure exactly how to word this, so bear with me as I try to get it all out.

I am currently having a hard time dealing with a few/alot of things that John is doing. He is working full time and thinks that because I am currently a stay at home mom that means he doesn't have to do anything around here. Granted keeping the house clean is my job as a stay at home mom, but I think he needs to help a little bit. Even if it isn't much. He leaves his dishes all over the house (something that I am currently working on fixing myself{but when I leave something laying around not matter if I pick it up now or later I am still the one picking it up. I know that it is still not a very good example, but...}), he walks all over my house in his gross muddy work boots, he leaves his clothes laying all over the house, he sits in front of the tv for hours on end, he sends the kids to bed/or naps before they are ready just because he is tired and then yells at them and spanks them over and over because they aren't sleeping,

When John and I were working full time he still did nothing in the house, said he wasn't the one in a skirt. Even when he was laid off and I was working he did nothing around here... So I would get up, depending on the day, at 3 or 4 AM (being pregnant) and head to work, work a full 8, or more, hour day. Come home and have to do the dishes, do the laundry, cook, clean up the mess the kids made while John was engrossed in the TV, get the kids ready for bed... the whole thing. I CAN'T HANDLE IT ANYMORE.

This last week he didn't work Tuesday or Wednesday. Father's day being the Sunday before that, I told him he should see if his dad wanted to go fishing one of the mornings. His dad had golfing plans for Tuesday , so John went with. Find with me that was because we go to the park on Tuesday's for a while with my mom's group. Well golfing took most of the day, and then they went to eat, and then shopping for something for the boat, and then they had to put it on the boat and by the time he told me we could come get him it was supper time. Then he tells me that he is going fishing with his dad and nephew on Wednesday. They left about 5 AM and called to tell me they were on there way home about 5 PM. I thought that we could hang out as a family, or he could help me around the house since he wasn't working, but instead we saw him less than we do when he is at work. Then Saturday he gets up and takes a 1 hour bath/shower and then gets dressed and takes the kids to his dads again for like 3 hours. Then home to take a nap (like every day), and then when I start to get the kids ready to go to Kirk's soccer game wonders what is going on. Then Sunday we went to church, ate lunch, he took a nap (again) and then we ran down to his parents to drop something off for his dad (a golf tournament brochure) and then asked his dad if he wanted to go golfing. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

My husband is 30 years old and I do more picking up after him than I do the three kids. My dad and I don't get along the greatest, but I am working on it. One thing that I do remember about growing up that didn't suck was the fact that he was always doing something. Helping with supper, helping us kids with some project, doing some kind of work around the house... he hated the TV and I think now I know why. John can spend hours apon hours upon hours in front of the TV. I know that I have it on too much too, but to get anything done in the house with the kids home I need something to keep them busy and the TV is really handy. I am trying to shut it off more, or have it on music channels.

This is pretty personal, but it is the one thing that I have the most problems with right now, so I am going to share it with you. John sleeps on the couch. Has since before we got pregnant with Aubrie. At first he blamed it on his back hurting when he slept in the bed, so we both moved out to the pull out bed on the couch. Then we got rid of that couch and got a normal couch. He decided to still sleep on that couch. The only time he would come in the bedroom is to get dressed or when he wanted something.... you get my drift. He would then "spend the night" with me and we would go on about our normal lives. This was bad enough. Well now the only time he is in the bed room is to get clothes and when he wants something... only now he is only in the room long enough to get what he wants and then he leaves. Makes me feel like a call girl.

Ok, in tears now... this is enough for now and while it might or might not seem like much to you reading this.Think about the fact that I have a 3 1/2 year old, a 2 year old and a 3 month old to take care of too. That is enough work in and of itself.

So keep us in your prayers. Thanks

Today Kirk (my brother for those that don't know) had a soccer game here in town. And it was at a time that we could go watch! They are usually either late at night, or right in the middle of nap time and I don't get to go, so we took advantage of the game time today and went to watch. The soccer field is part of our sports complex here in town and there is a park just a few feet from the soccer field, so the kids got to play a little bit. John and I ended up watching the game from the end of the field because that is where the park is, but we still got a pretty good idea of what was going on! Kirk attempted goals a few times, but didn't connect with the goal, the team did end up winning 4 or 5 to 0, so it was okay! The kids really had fun today playing on the slides and the swings! Aubrie on the other hand didn't really enjoy herself. She has such a hard time falling asleep when she is being held, and apparently we went during her nap time. So she pretty much screamed the whole time we were there, I did get her to fall asleep finally right at the end of the game, and then we left, so she went into her carseat and that woke her up again... Wyatte wouldn't fall asleep unless you were holding him and Nevaeh and Aubrie both won't fall asleep unless they are laying down. I wish there was a happy medium.



Last night our young marrieds group at church got together. It usually takes us a long time to get out the door, but last night we were out the door in record time! So we ended up showing up really early. The church has a little playground in the back for the kids during the school year (they have a school in the church during the school year) and we spent a little time over there waiting for the rest of the couples to show up. It is made for a older kids we found out, but they were able to manage ok! Nevaeh can do anything that Wyatte does, just to prove that she can!!! We were going to play the "Newlywed Game" but it turned out that only 3 couples came, and one of the couples had the game questions. So we ended up just sitting around talking for the time that we were there. It was alot of fun!

Tip Alert!

So this is my new favorite laundry tool. Yes Softsoap Foaming Handwash for Kids! I couldn't find my stain stick, and this was close by and I tried it and let me just tell you that it gets anything out! I have tried a lot of products on baby poop (the bright yellow kind that they have when they are nursing) and nothing really worked. This will get it out even after it has dried. It gets grease stains out, dirt out, just about anything I have tried to get out with this it has done it! I am going to have to stock up!!!

My Beautiful Little Girl

Last night I actually got to shop alone! Granted I didn't leave the house until around 9 PM, but hey whatever works right! It was so peaceful and relaxing to walk the aisles alone, with no kids kicking me in the shins, or yelling at the kids in the next cart, or kids putting food that I don't want/need in the cart when I am not looking, no one trying to beat on their sibling (at least in my cart!), no baby crying when I took to long in the freezer, no gum/candy that I have to buy because my kids didn't listen and ended up opening the package at the check out lanes...

Then today we headed to North Country Care, the assisted living facility that my grandma lives at. She was sooo excited to us, well mostly she was excited to see the kids, but!!!

After we took naps, Wyatte and I got the pool ready to swim in. It is just a little plastic pool, but the kids have fun! The water was still really cold, so all that happened today was filling it up, and then Wyatte gave his trucks baths. Well, when John came home him and Wyatte splashed each other, and John did dunk Wyatte a couple of times! I think Wyatte had fun. Nevaeh was still sleeping during this, and when she woke up she wanted to go in the "tub"! I think she decided to wait until the water was warmer when she did go in though!

Overdue Pics

Here are a few long overdue pics! Some of them are of my kids and a couple of them are of friends kids!

Today we had to bring John his lunch and the we got to stay for a while because they were taking a break. We ate our sandwiches there with him and then Wyatte started climbing the big sand hill that was a result of digging out the basement. There are a few pics of that in the slide show up above, but here is a video of him too...


Last night Wyatte got to stay up a little later than usual and watched "Jon and Kate +8" with us. One of the episodes that was on last night was about Kate getting her tummy tuck after the sextuplets were born. Well this morning Wyatte came into my room before I was totally dressed, I had pants and my bra on..., and walked up to me and squeezed the skin that is left over from having 3 kids in the last 3 years and told me that the man from TV could help me get rid of it like he did for the lady on the TV. So now even my son thinks I need to loose weight!

Please keep me in your prayers, I have been having some problems lately--I don't really want to go into details right now--and am trying to figure out what to do. Please just keep me in your prayers. Thank you!

Slideshows!!!

So I finally figured out how to put a slide show on my blog, but now need to figure out how to get it a little bigger!

My little golf lover

Today was another park day, and it was beautiful out! Yeah for us!

We got up, at breakfast, ran some errands and then headed to the park. We were the first ones there, but others showed up soon after. Quite a few of the moms from church showed up, about 15 or so, and most of us have two kids, with a few having three!!! So that was alot of kids there! They all had a blast. For those of you that know the town of Grand Rapids, we were at the Riverview Park, behind the old Riverview Elementary School. It is a great park, the kids really enjoy it!

After the park we headed towards home, but on the way stopped at my Aunt Marilyn's house for birthday muffins. My youngest brother turns 15 today!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRK!!! He took his written test this morning for drivers training and passed, so watch out if you are on the roads in GR!!! Just kidding Kirk! Anyways, we stopped there for some muffins and ended up staying for a while. While there we spent almost the whole time digging for pennies in the sand box. This is why.......When Marilyn did her son's grad party she hid about 10 dollars worth of pennies in the sand box. She figures only about 5 dollars was found, so she sent the kids to the sand box to look for them, and Wyatte wasn't finding any so I went to help. We ended up walking about with a little under a dollar worth of pennies!!!

Then it was off to home for naps and relaxation for me! Then John called and said they were going to work on the boat (he had the day off and went golfing with his dad...)and that he thought he might need a ride home and he would call me when he was ready. Well the kids woke up before he called so we just headed to the in-laws. They had finished the boat and Wyatte wanted to go for a boat ride, so they got the life jackets out and headed to the lake! I wanted some pics of the kids in the boat, but the young man that had the camera didn't think that those were the important shots!!! Instead we have shots of the house that John's brothers brother-in-law bought (did you get that whole connection?!?!?!?) and a loon. Oh well, there is always the next time! Then off to home.

Sorry I don't have any pics uploaded yet, but they all have pics of other people's kids and want to make sure it is ok with the moms before I put them up!

U.S. Open

So I know that you guys don't read this for a golf update, but I just can't believe what I watched! Tiger and Rocco Mediate just golfed an extra 18 holes of golf in a play off because their scores were tied at the end of regular play. That was intense in and of itself! Then at the last hole Tiger birdied and Rocco pared, so they went into sudden death! Tiger's first shot was in the fairway; his second shot landed him on the green and then he two putted for a par. It seemed that the excitement finally got to Rocco. His first shot ended up in a bunker (sandtrap for those that don't know), then from there he hit the golf path and took a drop. With that shot he aimed for the pin and ended up overshooting the hole about 20 feet. He missed that putt and would have bogeyed.

So Tiger wins his 14th major title!

You can see the whole story at nbcsports.com and click on the golf link on the left side of the screen.

Amazing Tiger shots

I finally found a video of Tiger amazing shots yesterday at Torrey Pines. It is a Youtube video and isn't the clearest, but very amazing nonetheless! http://youtube.com/watch?v=p4JI1_iUJRQ

pictures?

i am trying to figure out how to put a slide show of pics in, so that each post isn't a mile long. So far no luck. So I am going to post them to youtube and put a link in my post to the slideshow and you just click the link and it will take you there.

Well, John's sister and her girls are officially on their way home. It was fun to have her here and we didn't get to spend enough time with them, but we enjoyed seeing them for the little bit of time that we did! Here is a slide show of a few pics I took when she was here. I also have a few that she took, but I am going to give her a chance to put them up on her own page. When she does I will let you know where to look for them!

Jeanie's Visit Slideshow

Here are a few other pics that I took over the last few days.

Random pics of June Slideshow

Today was the Annual "Civil Air Patrol" Pancake Breakfast at the Airport. This is something that my family has gone to many times over the years. They make you pancakes, sausage, eggs, coffee and juice, then they have a few different planes out that you can look at, a few activities (rock climbing and a paper airplane table) and then there was an army tank and truck there for the kids to climb in and play on. Wyatte told me to watch out for the gun on the tank because it was going to shoot me! At the terminal there are a few pilots there to give airplane rides. They were a little spendy (25$ a person) but we splurged and Wyatte and John went for a ride. They flew over Grand Rapids, to Cohasset and found our house, Grandma and Grandpa Hoard's house, and Auntie Leanne's horses! Wyatte got to sit in the front because Nevaeh thought she wanted to go until another plane started and got scared. And since she was next to Daddy in the back and Wyatte was all buckled in already he got to sit up by the pilot! He had a lot of fun John said. When they first took off the plane hit some air pockets or something and it felt like the plane was free falling for a second or two. Wyatte was sitting in the front going "whooo hoooo" every time the plane fell a little bit! John said he also liked talking into the headphones that they wore!

Enjoy the Pancake Breakfast and Airplane Ride Pictures!

Way off the subject, but we tried to get rid of our cat by driving him a ways down the road (over a mile and a half) yesterday afternoon, and by golly today he is sitting on our deck. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR We don't want him anymore..........

Stormy golf

So tonight we had a pretty good storm come through here. Scared me pretty good. Just in case you don't know, I HATE storms and am very glad that John was home with me. The thunder and rain woke Nevaeh up, knocked some of my plants over, and had wind about 30 or so MPH. SCARY.

On a different note, Tiger golfed awesome today! He looked like his knee was bothering him (he had surgery on it about 6 weeks ago) but he pulled off some pretty great shots and putts. Hole 13 he had a hugely long putt go in for an eagle (2 under for those of you that don't know), then on the 17th hole, he chipped it in the hole from a pretty weird place. That isn't the description that I wanted, but... I was trying to find a video of it, but can't... then hole 18 he had another long putt go in. Just crazy!! I wish I could golf period, but to be able to do that.... amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the time has come and gone to start thinking about what to do for Nevaeh's birthday! I asked Wyatte what we should do for her party because I didn't think that Nevaeh would really know what she wanted or what I was asking her. Wyatte told me flowers. Then Nevaeh said no BEARS! So I found a really cute cake in the shape of a bear, I have found a few things for the attendee's to do, and a few food ideas. Now I just need to figure out if we are going to do 2 parties. One for family and one for her little friends, or if we just do one and invite everyone to the same thing, or if we just skip the friends and just do family. I have never had a friend party before because we didn't really have anyone that we knew that is Wyatte's age, but now that we are in a church and have people that we do things with and kids that Nevaeh plays with I am not sure what to do really. I think it would be fun to have a kid party, but not really sure yet. So if anyone has any tips for me let me know.

I can't believe that Nevaeh is going to be 2 in about a month. Crazy how fast time goes. Pretty soon we will be having grad parties for the three of them and we will be empty nesters!!! Ok, so not for 18 years, but!!!

Wyatte loved his movie last night. John said he sat there the whole time and watch it. He did have to pee during the movie and John told him that they wouldn't stop the movie for him so they had to hurry and so he ran the whole way to the bathroom and pee'd as fast as a 3 year old can!!! He also asked John when we could get that movie and was told when he turned 4. So if any of you remember he would like that for a birthday present in Dec!

Wyatte is off to his first movie at the theater! John only worked a half day today, and after supper decided that him and Wyatte were going to go see "Kung Fu Panda." Wyatte has been talking about almost nothing else besides this movie for about 2 weeks now! He got a "Kung Fu Panda" toy in his happy meal at McDonalds and thought that was the coolest thing ever, honestly it only lasted a few hours in the house before it mysteriously disappeared! It was pretty noisy!

Last week we rented a few movies which included "Live Free or Die Hard", "Balls of Fury", "I am Legend", one that I can't remember, and "Underdog." Wyatte had seen a preview for the last one and really wanted to see it. When he walked by the movie in the store, he asked very nicely if he could get it. I wasn't sure I wanted him to see it yet, but because he asked soo politely I decided it would be ok. It ended up being a really cute movie and he watched it about 20 times in the last week! I told John that we might have to get it for him!

I made chicken and broccoli for supper and while that was cooking I decided to try to make bread again. So far so good! The recipe makes really big loaves and since I wanted them alittle smaller this time I made two loaves and then a pan of buns. Nevaeh and I just had a bun and they are great! 'Vaeh just turned around in her chair and told me it was good! I will try to get some pics up later, but right now Aubrie is crying, so better go get her!

Island Pork Recipe

Here is the recipe for the meat that I made the other night(that was too sugary the first time and just right the second...) I have had a couple of people ask me for the recipe so I thought I would just post it on here and you can try it if you want. I have never tried the salad with the pork. I just make the meat and then either mashed potatoes or baked potatoes. John is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, doesn't like a lot of extras! So I can't tell you how the salad is, but if you do make it let me know how it is. Maybe the kids and I would like it, forget about John!!! JK!!!

The last time I made the Pork, I think I used just a little over 3 pounds of meat, and a little under the 1 cup of brown sugar that it calls for. John thought that the first batch I made about a month ago was too sugary so I tried a little different combo. I also have never tried it with Tabasco, so... Just an FYI the notes that are in italics are from my cousin Kelly, who gave me the recipe originally. If you do try it let me know how you liked it!!!

Island Pork Tenderloin Salad
Serves 6-8

For Pork
2 t. salt
½ t. black pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 t. cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins
(2 ¼ to 2 ½ lbs total)
(I used pork loin because it’s cheaper, and just cut it into 2-3 pieces lengthwise so it’s about the same size as tenderloin.)
2 T. olive oil

For glaze
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 T. minced garlic
1 T. Tabasco
(I left this out)

For vinaigrette
3 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. fresh orange juice
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 t. curry powder
½ t. salt
¼ t. black pepper
½ c. olive oil

For salad
3 navel oranges
5 oz baby spinach, trimmed
(6 c. leaves)
4 c. thinly sliced Napa cabbage
1 red bell pepper, sliced in thin strips
½ c. golden raisins
2 firm-ripe avocadoes

Prepare pork:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub. Heat oil in an ovenproof heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.

Make glaze and roast pork:

Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140 F, about 20 minutes. (I roasted mine for 40 minutes – but I did have a lot of it in the oven) Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155 F while standing.)

Make vinaigrette while pork roasts:

Whisk together juices, mustard, curry powder, salt and pepper, then add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified. Prepare salad ingredients while pork stands: Cut peel, including white pith, from oranges with a sharp knife, then cut oranges crosswise into ¼-inch-thick slices. Toss spinach, cabbage, bell pepper, and raisins in a large bowl with about ¼ cup vinaigrette. Halve, pit, and peel avocados, then cut diagonally into ¼-inch-thick slices.

Assemble salad:

Cut pork at a 45-degree angle into ½-inch-thick slices. Line a large platter with dressed salad and arrange sliced pork, oranges, and avocados in rows on top. Drizzle some vinaigrette over avocados and oranges. Pour any juices from skillet over pork.

John and Aubrie

This is a picture of John when he was a baby. I am not totally sure how old he really is, but I am pretty sure he is sitting alone, so a little older than Aubrie is now. Anyways, Linda and I can not get over how much Aubrie really looks like him when he was this old! Their smiles are almost identical, and with the dimple!!! TOOO CUTE! I am going to try to get a pic of Aubrie's face, close to this one so you can really see what I am talking about!

Graduation--a couple of days late!!!

I finally got the post I was working on Sunday night up, but it won't let me change the date, so to look at it you will have to scroll down the page a little bit! Hope you enjoy the pics and video that I have put up!!!

Silly girl!!!

This is how ticklish my baby girl is!!!

Looking back

I was browsing around on my computer just now, and found these pictures. The top one of Wyatte in the tub is one of my favorite pictures of him ever! I just love the look on his face, and the way the water is spread out under his hands. Makes me happy just to see it.This one was taken in the yard at Autumn Lane, when we lived/worked there. I think he was watching Daddy hit golf balls in the yard.
Just enjoying the nice weather, and being an inquisitive boy and wondering what he was holding.
Isn't she beautiful???
Pardon the red eyes, but this is one of my favorite pics of the kids!!!

new post???

I am trying to get a new post up here with pictures, but my computer keeps disconnecting me, so I can't get the pics where they need to be and such, I am going to have to wait until morning to get them up, so for those of you that check sorry, but there won't be anything up her until I can get my computer to act normal.

Graduation--a couple of days late!!!

Saturday afternoon the kids and I went to my cousins grad party. John had been at a memorial service for a family friend so the kids and I braved it alone. I don't go many places with the kids by myself unless I can buckle them in!!! Then John's sister got up to the area that night and we all spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa's house enjoying pizza and visiting with the family.

Sunday was church with the family. Then off to my mom's house for Paul's grad party. Quite a few people showed up. Lots of family and his friends from school. Was a great time to catch up with everyone!

Then from there we went to John's sister's house for Mazie's party. Nevaeh got a quick nap in on the way there!!! She is the oldest of the grandkids on John's side of the family. And you know what I didn't even get a picture of her at all today! How sad. The kids really had fun there, playing outside with all the cousins! Asher took sooo long going down the slide that I got two pictures!!! Neveah took about two seconds to go down so I barely got the two pics that I did get!!! Aubrie had a tough day though. She is used to falling asleep in her crib and when we are away from home for a nap she doesn't do very well. She doesn't take a nuk, and so she just fusses and fusses. I got a couple of minutes away from a fussy baby when loving family and friends would come, but then she would just fuss louder and they would rush to give her back. Hannah did get her to sleep for quite a while though, she has the magic touch we decided!!! Now we are home though and she is asleep in her crib!

Sucess, Partly...

This is just a pic of my caramel rolls! Don't they look good???

Well this morning I decided to make caramel rolls (they turned out great!), and more bars for Paul's party (they turned out pretty good too!!!) While I was making these tasty treats Nevaeh decided to take her diaper/pull-up off. I didn't really think anything of it, then she throws it in the garbage and walks to the little potty chair in the living room and sits down. Again, I didn't think anything of it. Then she comes running into the kitchen yelling "potty mommy potty" (not quite that clear though, lol) Sure enough she had peed on the potty all by herself! So I left her bottom half naked and about an hour and a half later she runs to me again "potty mommy potty" All by herself again! Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Hoard's to bring them some tasty treats. She stayed dry that whole time. Then it was home for a nap, diaper on, lay down, sleep 2 or so hours, wake up, still dry, refuse to go potty when mom asks her to, sits on my lap for a while, asks for a drink, then sits on the potty all by her self and she GOES! When Wyatte woke up we had a little snack and then headed into town. I braved the silliness and put her in panties. She stayed dry the whole time we were in town, about an hour and a half. At home, John was getting the tub filled and ready for a bath, she started to take her pants off and peed in them. :( Then after the bath she peed on the floor. But then a miracle happened... SHE POOPED ON THE POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah for me! Usually she tells me that she has to go, and sits down and nothing, and then tells me she has to go and nothing, and so forth and so on, until she finally poops on the floor or in a diaper. She was running around the living room and kitchen and suddenly she stops and says "poop mommy poop" and runs to the potty and goes.

So while I don't think that she is totally trained, I do believe that I am making progress.

So I did have a video in here of me tickling Aubrie, but it turned out soooo dark that you can't see her at all, you can hear her but not the same! So I will try to take another one and put that up because it is pretty funny! I think she is more ticklish than me. Anyways, enjoy the pictures.

Phil actually got Aubrie to sleep for a little bit! That was nice for me, gave me enough time to make lasagna and garlic bread! Paul is looking though his pictures for some good ones to put up at his grad party.

Aubrie getting attention from Uncle Paul!

Wyatte was using some left over timbers at Grandma Kris' house to make a house for the mosquitoes. Thank you Wyatte for making it there and not at our house! We have enough here!!!

Wyatte helping with the trailer! He was actually getting it to go up!

Uncle Phil spinning Wyatte around. The funny thing is that Phil got way more dizzy than Wyatte did!

Paul spinning Nevaeh around. Right after I took this picture Paul had to stop abruptly because Nevaeh got a look on her face that made Paul think she was going to puke!!!

Nevaeh riding in her "boat"

Aubrie getting some time with Grandma Linda

Grandma read this book about eggs about four or five times today when we were there!!!

Aubrie hanging out with Daddy when he came home from work early.

Raining Food

So it is raining yet again. Not sure when it is going to stop, but it is coming down pretty good. Hopefully it will be just rain and not the tornadoes that are a little farther south. I can't sleep even though I am sooo very tired. The rain is soothing, but the thunder that is shaking my windows, and the lightning that is sooo bright makes me nervous.

Tonight I made a for supper I tried a recipe that I have had in the past, and tried making for us one other time. John didn't like it last time said it was too sweet, so this time I used a little less sugar, and little more meat. The recipe calls for 2 pound of pork loin, but I think I used a little more than 3. We had it at my cousin Natalie's bridal shower and it smelled wonderful so I asked what was on it. It sounded really weird to me, and if I would have read the recipe with out tasting it I would have looked it over because of the combo of spices! I guess I don't venture out of my comfort zone much, but this is wonderful. If you are interested in knowing what goes in it let me know. John really liked it this time so I think I will try it again!!!

I also made some bars for my brothers grad party this coming up weekend. And they turned out pretty good too. John said the first bite doesn't make you want more, but the longer you chew the better it gets! The bottom is a german choco cake mix mixed with sweetened condensed milk, butter and nuts. Then a layer of choco chips and then melted caramel sauce then more of the cake mix. I think they are pretty good! I am going to try a couple more recipes tomorrow and will let you know how they turn out!!!

John's sister flew into the Cities tonight! We are looking forward to spending some time with her. We did talk about going to Goosebury Falls for a night or so, but with the rain not sure if that is going to happen or not. I guess if you see pics of the Falls then we went!!! I got a couple pics of Phil and the kids, and will try to get them up soon.

The thunder and lightning stopped so I am going to try to go to sleep while I can.

Cold day at the park

Today we braved the wind for a few hours of fun at the park with the MUMS crew. I had been looking forward to some time with the moms and the kids were looking forward to playing with the kids, so even though it felt about 30 with wind, we were there. Along with about 8 or 9 other moms and about 22 kids between us! All the kids seemed to have fun, even though the little girls were pretty cold. And us moms enjoyed the little bit of conversation that we did get in between shivering kids coming to warm up, wiping boogers off of runny noses, snacks being passed out and finding safe places for the kids to pee! We only lasted about 1 1/2 before we started to trickle out, but it was still fun. The kids and I haven't been to the park on a good day yet. The other day we tried to go and it was raining..... so we ended up playing at the Barton's. I think I mentioned this already though! Anyways here are a few pics from today. I will try to get the names right, but if someone looks at this and notices that I have them wrong let me know!!

Nevaeh tried out the baby tent that I brought for Aubrie to sleep in. I ended up wearing Aubrie the whole time in my baby wrap. Kept me a little warmer!!!

Wyatte and Neveah playing on the swings.

Some of the older kids had been up on the top of the rock wall asking to have their picture taken (see below) and so Wyatte wanted his taken too!!! He didn't climb up the wall though, there are steps off to the side!!!

Nevaeh got a turn on the swing.

Baylee S. and Joshua B. (I think). They kept trying to get our attention because they wanted their picture taken!!!

Phil is up for a couple of days. For those of you that don't know Phil is one of my three younger brothers, the oldest of the three. He is going to college to be a athletic trainer, I believe. And ref's soccer games as often as he can. This coming up weekend he is going to one of four officials at a pro soccer game in Canada. He isn't sure which one of them he will be, but it is a great opportunity for him what ever position he ref's at. Anyways, he is at my mom's helping her get ready for Paul's, my middle brother, graduation party. Doing some stuff around the house and whatnot. So we are going to go over there tomorrow and spend some time with Uncle Phil, Grandma Kris, and whatever other uncles are there!!! We don't get to see Phil very often, but when we called him today to talk Wyatte could actually tell that who he was talking to! It was pretty impressive! Friday Phil leaves for Canada and then is up there for the weekend, until the 11th I think. Then he heads to Georgia to a soccer camp that he is doing an internship at. That is at least three weeks I think, and if I remember right he is going to try to ref some when he is out there. Then I don't know what his plans are for sure, but... He is going to 22 on the 14th of June. Hard to believe. Time just flies. I will have to get up some pics of him and the kids and then one of him as a baby. Just for fun!!!

John's sister Jeanie flies in to the Cities on Thursday sometime, so we are looking forward to seeing her and her girls. They are going to spend a day or so in North Branch with Jim, John's brother and his family and then come up Saturday morning some time. So lots of fun this coming up week. Jeanie and her girls would like to go to Gooseberry Falls and depending on the weather maybe even camp up there. I told Linda that the kids and I, and maybe some of Leanne's (John's other sister) kids could come with us. I am looking forward to going up there. Beautiful place. Not sure about the three little kids, but...

One other thing before I go, my mom and were talking on the phone just now and she said that one of Kirk's, my baby brother (now 14) friend's is missing. He got in a fight with his mom on Sunday and took of in just shorts and a tee shirt (my mom thinks...) and they haven't seen or heard from him since. The police started a search today. Please add that to your prayers, that he is safe and is coming home soon. Pray for his family in the mean time, and all of the people looking for him that God opens their eyes and ears for him where ever he is. His name is Alex.

More odds and ends

This is a pic of the flower that we got for my mom for Mother's Day. It is a kind of rose bush!
We went to Grandma Kris' for a while on Saturday and Kirk was spinning the kids around! Such a good uncle. We get to see Uncle Phil on Tuesday, and are super excited!
Spinning Wyatte around, Kirk got more dizzy that Wyatte did. Much be the youth on Wyatte's side right??!?!!??
These were taken at a grad party that we went to, the boy in the light colored shirt is Asher, (John's sister's littlest), the boy in red that is kneeling is Noah, (Asher's older brother), and Wyatte is standing up behind Noah. Noah is 5, Wyatte is 3, and Asher is 1 1/2.
Nevaeh got in on this picture. All four of them were running around the yard chasing each other and the ball!

The next few pics are some that John took on a fishing trip that he went on this weekend with his brother Jim, dad and nephew.