MonsterFluffMommy

Adam's First Haircut

2011-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Adam's hair was getting long, really long. His little curls were getting matted in the back. It was time for his first haircut! The curls aren't completely gone, but wow what a difference a couple of inches made!

It's getting cold..

2011-11-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are, and it's November, Turkey Day is a few weeks away and I'm REALLy looking forward to everyone coming up (don't let me down! lol). We've been raking up leaves and bracing ourselves for the cold months. It's still pretty with a few warm sunny days here and there. We made playdoh one day and Addie made a monster, Judah made a tadpole.

After a really looong week of Adelaide being sick (I think she's almost over it), we took a drive yesterday just to get out of the house and breathe. We stopped off at our ice cream place and got ice cream, Addie got rainbow, Judah got cookiesncream, Adam shared my banana and Joe's cookie dough.

We drove through Clark State park and stopped to let the kids play for a few minutes, Addie promptly lost her ice cream. =o( But she kept on playing.

So that's a recap of the past couple of weeks, nothing too crazy, just our daily life. lol

Camping, Ice cream and Animals

2011-10-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

The weather has been great here, not too awful cold and a few very sunny days. Joe took Judah fishing and camping at a nearby lake, and even though it was windy they both had a blast. They fished and made a fire and roasted hotdogs. Meanwhile, I took Adam over to a friend's house (and on the way stopped off at our favorite ice cream joint for a banana split).

Afterwards, Adelaide and I went shopping and stopped off at Chikfila as well, for a little one-on-one time together. =D

Earlier this week, we had a beautiful day with a high of 77, and since I knew dreary days were coming, I packed us up a lunch, skipped school for the day and headed to the zoo. Man what a relaxing time it was just having fun with the kids..we rode the merry-go-round after eating lunch, playing on the playground and seeing all the animals. Adam absolutely LOVED the carousel and didn't want to get off. We finished off our trip with cotton candy and headed home. Yay for field trips! =oD

Fall Fun

2011-10-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

Fall has been beautiful so far. We've been trying to make every day count before colder weather sets in. A few weeks back I loaded the kids up and we headed to Georgia for our occasional week of family visiting. It's always nice to be with everyone that I miss on a daily basis. You really don't know what you're missing until you move 500 miles away.

Days were spent visiting family, having fun, eating food, etc. ;o)

We took a day and went to Rock Ranch, owned by Truitt Cathy (the Chik-fil-a guy). The place was loads of fun! For $12 (we had a coupon) the kids got to do whatever they wanted! Pony rides, corn maze, Tiny Town, little tractors..it was just an endless supply of fun activities for them! I don't know why we haven't been there sooner!

Grammy and Poppy's swing, on a beautiful Georgia day!

When we got back to Indiana we planned a day to go apple picking at Huber's farm. They day was a little windy but it turned out to be a lot of fun! 63 lbs of apples later we were set!

=o)

2011-10-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry I skipped September without a post. I rarely hop on the computer anymore, even emails don't get checked for weeks. So to catch up on everything we did before fall hit...

Adam's birthday came and went (1 whole year?!)

I've reclaimed my love of sewing and have been busy making Addie some clothes.

We've been busy doing kindergarten stuff

Fishing with friends

Enjoyed the last bit of summer

Once I manage to get more photos off my phone I'll fill you in on what we've been doing for fall!

Birthday Bliss!

2011-08-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

Addie's birthday came along and so did Judah's! I decided to have a "small" party for each of them. Meaning.. however many kids I can cram into my house right? Addie's was a little bit smaller with pink and purple decorations.

Judah had a guest list for his party and I invited each one of them. His was a little more planned with a race car theme (since he chose a hot wheels cake).

We made "license plates", played pin the tail on the donkey, and tire toss. They both had a blast and so did all the kids! Next up is Adam's birthday, and since he won't even know it's his, we'll just be getting him a little smash cake and call it a day. =o)

On another note, We've started homeschool this week with Judah in kindergarten. So far it's been great! Today we did a little science experiment with mixing colors. We made cupcakes and mixed colored frosting! Friday is a group trip to the local fire department, which I know they'll love. I'm going to try and make Kindergarten as fun as possible for him (and Addie, since she's right there next to him). I enjoyed school so much and I want them to enjoy it too!

Happy Tuesday!

Brainard Lake

2011-08-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

We took a day and drove up to Brainard Lake, a beautiful lake surrounded by moutains. We brought a picnic along and while Joe did some fly fishing, the kids and I strolled around the lake and did some exploring.

On the way home we stopped again in St Louis and visited the arch again, this time we were able to go up. It took a loong time to be able to go up, lots of waiting, but Judah absolutely loved it. He had been so disappointed that we didn't get to go up on the way out to Colorado, so it was worth all the wait for him. =o)

Then before we knew it our excursion out west was over, we're left with tons of happy memories. I'm hoping the kids will remember a few of those too. =o)

Rocky Mountains

2011-07-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

Toward the end of the week, we went to Rocky Mountain National Forest, and once again I wish we had taken a couple of days to spend here. We saw elk and I saw a huge bull elk too! I would have loved to go hiking here, but after the Garden of the God hike, I knew we couldn't do it with the kids.

They views are incredible, the landscape is just so different from Indiana for sure.

We drove through, and met up with Joe's parents for lunch at Poppy's! The kids thought it was cool to eat at a place named after Poppy.

After lunch, Tom and Diane took the kids for us and Joe and I went on a horseback ride, the one thing we were wanting to do on our own. We opted for the two hour ride, instead of the one hour. It was just us and our tour guide, my horse's name was Rachel, lol. I was a little fearful at first, but I managed to loosen up a little into the ride. About 30 minutes into it, it started to POUR! and..it was COLD! But we just had to laugh, the scenery sure did make up for the shivering. We cut our tour a little short, but it was fun!

Boulder, Colorado

2011-07-29T07:25:00.001-07:00

The following week was spent in Boulder. We got together with Joe's brother, Ryan, and met up with Joe's parents. Ryan fixed dinner for us several nights and took the kids to a local toy shop. They each picked out a toy, Addie two miniature horses, and Judah chose a gun that launches an airplane (Judah really took his time choosing). We stopped for gelato too!
Ryan also showed us the old church that he is the musical director for. The church is beautiful with stained glass windows. The kids got a pipe organ lesson with Ryan.

The kids really liked Ryan's dog, Mo-mo, Adam liked him the most I think!

We got to hike up to Boulder falls with the kids one day and the next day we rode up to a secluded park up in the mountains and had a grill-out picnic. We hiked up to the falls there too. The rushing water was really cool!

Flying W Ranch & Cave of the Winds

2011-07-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

The evening after our trip to 7 falls we had reserved a spot at the Flying W Ranch. They have a Chuckwagon dinner and cowboy music show. We got there a few hours before dinner and checked out the Ranch, pretty much an old village you could walk around, there were a lot of old cabins and houses that were pretty much gift shops. There was also a teepee and they had old wagons and an area that you would practice your lassoing.

Dinner was pretty good, it was a huge amount of food. We stuck around for a few songs, there were 4 or 5 cowboys who played guitars and banjos and fiddles..Adam was getting tired so we left a little early.

The next day we went to Cave of the Winds and did the cave tour. Although it wasn't as big as Mammoth cave near us, it was interested and the kids freaked out when they turned the lights out. lol We ate our picnic lunch there.

We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house, doing laundry and packing our stuff up to head to Boulder the next day.

Focus on the Fam & 7 Falls

2011-07-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

Our days were pretty much packed with stuff to do in Colorado Springs, but it was fun and even relaxing to be able to come "home" put the kids to bed and relax on the balcony deck looking out over the city lights, that's probably what I miss most!

Anyway, the next day we wanted to "focus" on the kids...sooo we took them to Focus on the Family, did the tour and hung out in the toddler room a lot!

Adam LOVED goingback and forth under the log tunnel.

We ran into some folks from Jeffersonville too, weird!

There was a giant slide, which Addie was a little to short for, but Judah was able to do it..even though it was "a little too fast" after he rode it (he didn't go on it again). lol We grabbed Chik-fil-a and rode over to play putt-putt, it started raining (one of the typical quick afternoon showers there), so we postponed putt-putt and opted for Squeak for some ice cream (Squeak is a place you can get sodas mixed up with the flavor you pick). Back to putt-putt...Judah loved it, and I beat Joe by 3. ;o) Later we went "home" and made spaghetti. Fun day!

Thursday we rode over to 7 falls (also within a 15 minute drive. All the attractions are so close to each other there!) We rode the elevator up to a viewing deck, there was a gift shop too and the kids picked out some colorful rocks as a souvenir.

Then we took the many stairs (don't they look menacing) up the side of the falls and hiked up a little ways to the stream. Judah and Adelaide played in the water and Joe took pics.

Cheese!

Colorado Springs

2011-07-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Our first day in Colorado Springs! We settled into the house that Lisa The Great so generously let us "house-sit". And we grabbed dinner at Tumbleweed (decided to stick with what we knew).

The next day we drove over to the Cave Dwellings, but didn't quite make it there, since our van was leaking radiator fuel. We spent a few hours in the nearest mall while our radiator was being replaced, after this slight detour we made it to the Cave Dwellings.

Judah especially liked climbing through all the tunnels and up and down the ladder. It was a really cool place for kids to explore an I wish we could have spent more time there.

For dinner we packed a little lunchand hit the nearest park, let the kids play and then hiked a little ways up a hill, where we saw a deer bedding down and got a good view of Colorado Springs.

The following day we rode over to Garden of the Gods, the kids helped hold up the "balancing rock"

and we attempted the easiest trail possible around the formations. 10 minutes into the mile of flat, paved trail everyone started to complain, Adam and Adelaide hitched a ride on mommy.

We made it though, and ate our packed lunch while we drove over to Manitou Springs to visit Pikes Peak. We got tickets for the Cog Railway, ran home for a quick nap and drove back to ride the 45 minute railway to the top.

Adelaide and Adam fell asleep (probably from the altitude). Although I was skeptical on how the kids would do in such an inclosed space, it was a really cool experience and I'm glad we did it! At the top we bought hot donuts, and since it was sooo windy and cold Adam and Adelaide stayed inside the building with me, while Judah and Joe took a few pics.

Summer Vacation

2011-07-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay on getting more pics up! =oP Mom ;o)

Figured I'd start up again with pics from our vacation to Colorado!

Our first stop was on the road trip out there.. we stopped in St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch. Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and also the end of Marine week, so the place was packed. We checked out a few of the things they had going on, but didn't make the trip to the top of the arch.

After staying overnight in Kansas City, we took another pit stop in the middle of nowhere..Kansas. Signs for a zoo/wildlife reserve were advertised amongst the loooong stretches of nothingness.

little boys

2011-02-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal+White Chocolate+Cranberries=YUM!

2011-02-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

We like granola bars around here. I've been messing around with a recipe and came up with this one. It's good! Really good! What's great about granola bars is the versatility... you can add anything! Next will be some M&M granola bars for the kids, they aren't diggin' the cranberries as much as their parents.

White Chocolate Cranberry Granola Bars
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup craisins
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 9x13" baking dish pan.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the craisins and white chocolate chips(be sure these don't clump together or one lucky person will get a block of white chocolate in their bar). Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

(By the way, Whole Foods has some really good raw honey at $4.79(ish) per 16oz. A friend of my tipped me off on this. Good stuff!)

For All You Scarf Wearers...

2011-02-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

We southern folk never knew how to tie a scarf the right way..(or at least I didn't..you just wrap it around your neck right?) So when I moved "north" I figured it out. Aha! I love wearing them and I know quite a few friends up here do.. so I thought you scarf wearers might enjoy checking out this different way to tie one on.
From allthingschic.net...

Retreat

2011-01-31T12:25:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we took off for Lake Cumberland for a little weekend away. We rented a beautiful cabin with some friends, overlooking the lake. The view was awesome!

We spent most all of our time in the cabin, the kids played, and we relaxed. No worries of laundry piles, mopping floors or dusting! It was just a carefree way to re-energize from the long, cold winter.

Between 4 Iphones, 2 Ipads, stacks of games and space to run, the kids stayed entertained. We baked cookies, made fires, and sat around listening to guitar music. One of the highlights for the kids was the humongous jacuzzi tub! Bath time didn't come soon enough!

What a wonderful retreat...

Cookie Decorating

2011-01-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend was pretty uneventful and relaxing. Sunday afternoon we swung by our Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen, Joe and I are suckers for their iced sugar cookies! This weekend you could buy a decorating box, for 6 bucks you got three sugar cookies, three colors of icing, and colorful sprinkles. I helped Addie and Joe helped Judah. I realized after few seconds that I was doing it for her, what fun is that? Would she really remember decorating cookies if mommy was the one doing it? So I let her take over and Joe let Judah decorate his. They turned out to be a mile-high pile of multicolored sugar, but they loved them!
Sometimes you just have to relax a little and them learn.

We started making over my sewing room! It will take a little while, since we are doing a little at a time, but one wall is painted and Joe has begun hanging some shelves! I've found that the best bang for your buck, as far as shelving, is to buy a piece of MDF and have them cut it at the store. Lowe's MDF board was $32 for 3/4 inch board, and it was only 25cents a cut! I'll have more than enough shelving to store sewing stuff!

Adam is cutting his first tooth!

Cookie Halves

2011-01-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

The other day I bought the kids a cookie on the way home from somewhere. Judah ate his and when he was finished said "that cookie was really good! I should have broken it in half!" Why I asked? So that he would have the other half to eat now!
How funny!

Here's a few things we did today...

Kindergarten work

Time with the Potato Head family. They were meant to remind me of my mom and dad. Judah said so. The one with the two sets of eyes was done by Adelaide.

Laying the dinosaur to rest

2011-01-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

It was a fighter, that's for sure. I'm not sure how old it was, but it's been in our family for 7 years. Given to us after being used, borrowed and stored for who knows how long. We tried to fix it... looks like it's a lost cause (or I'm just giving up, because I'm getting tired of the laundry piling up!) Yep, that's right. My washer is dead. We tried replacing the coupler after it decided to stop spinning. I hung that load of clothes on various objects outside, to try and lessen the load on my dryer. They were frozen blocks of ice in the morning.
We plugged it in and now it doesn't spin OR agitate. And I'm all one for saving money and getting it fixed, but I think it's more beneficial to us to just lay it to rest and get a new one. One that is more energy efficient and can wash more than a few towels at a time.
It's kinda sad, because I know this one was a good one. It's lasted a long time. I've joked about us dying before it would. Feels like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend.

Post-Christmas Norm

2011-01-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

Our tree is still up. I had the idea to take it down right before trash day on Monday, but Judah wanted to know why we were taking it down since it was so pretty and it made our living room pretty. So for one more week we have the tree up.
Today was spent post-Christmas de-cluttering toys. An overflowing bin of toys later, their room is organized, and the army men are separated from Mr. Potato Head. At least until tomorrow.
For now, it's relax mode with some of Enstrom's World Famous Almond Toffee, a very yummy Christmas gift.

My helper

2011-01-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

I took Judah with me today to pick up a few groceries. Roaming the aisles of a store, trying to gather essentials has come to be a major dread lately. I usually put off going til the very last minute. But today, Addie had fallen asleep and Adam was happy in his bouncer, so I took Judah along for the company and the help.

He really is a help and I found it to be a lot more of an enjoyment, than going by myself. We strolled through the produce and picked out apples and cherries (on sale!). He decided he wanted pineapple, so we smelled and picked out a nice ripe one. He even remembered the butter for me, which I had not added to my list.

We rewarded ourselves with a chocolate chip cookie from Zaxby's on the way home. What a relaxing grocery run.. and I think I'll be taking my helper along with me more often.

Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

We had a Christmas ornament party! Several friends brought their kids and a homemade ornament project for all the kids to make. There ended up being 14 kids, 6 adults, 6 ornaments and a bunch of craziness!

Snowflakes

2010-12-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

We've been getting ready for the cold season. It's kinda hard to believe winter is just now starting. =oP We've gotten snow and ice over the past couple of weeks and it's only just beginning. To keep busy and entertain the troops, we decided to do a snowflake project. I think Joe and I had more fun than the kids! Glitter and paper were strewn across the table (and floor), but it was worth it!
If you can't remember how to make these, don't feel bad..it took us a couple of tries before our snowflakes started looking less like blocks of paper with holes. Here's a snowflake tutorial (that I should have looked up before we started!)

Snow Day

2010-12-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

"It snowed!", I yelled..peeking out the window. Judah was immediately stoked! He's been waiting for the snow to come..his plan was for it to snow and then mommy would make hot chocolate and cookies. Although I hadn't prepared for snow this early, we did manage to bake the cookies later that night. We did however get out there and built a couple of snowmen. Perfect snow for snowmen this time! Addie had a ton of fun too. We threw snowballs at each other and Addie would try, several times I saw her giving a snowball to daddy instead. Judah was all about the snowball fight!

Fortunately it was on a day daddy was home, so we were able to tag team it with Adam. It was a lot of fun though! Judah's snowsuit arrived in the mail a little late, but hopefully it'll snow again and maybe we can try our hand at sledding. =o)

Getting Better

2010-11-08T12:42:00.001-08:00

We've been sick, all of us caught the stomach bug that seems to be plaguing the Ohio Valley. Thankfully it only lasted a couple of days. We are all on the mend, but runny noses are still among us. So I'm tracking down the best humidifier to buy and not break down on me like the last one. I'll be ordering a couple of those this week!

Meanwhile, we trying to figure out refinancing the house, and Joe is trying to figure out what that orange dashboard light is telling us on my van. The 8 foot privacy fence we started on about 4 or 5 weeks ago is about 97 % done! Joe has to build the gate and finish up the last bit by the house.

I've tried my hand at caramel corn and wassail last week, going for that fall feel even though winter is bearing down on us. =oP The wassail could have used a little more "bite" so I'll try another recipe..but the caramel corn was scrumptious!

Happy moment: Adelaide - "look at me mommy, I a princess"

Back in the swing

2010-11-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

We're getting back in the swing of things around here. Life seems to be getting back to normal somewhat. I'm finding time to sew here and there. Adam has been sleeping like a dream the past few nights, I actually woke him up after he slept 10 hours straight last night. Daytime is another story, but it's slowly getting better. He tends to power nap often, leaving me feeling like I spend most of the day trying to get him back down to sleep. He so sweet, it's hard be upset at him. We all love him so much. Mornings, he just wakes up smiling..by the end of the day he's a bit grumpy from lack of sleep, but still manages to smile at daddy when he gets home.

I've taken a few more pics but here's a really good one Joe took at 8 weeks.. those eyes are still blue!

Falling behind again!

2010-10-27T12:18:00.001-07:00

Sorry mom I know.. I don't take enough pictures and post them on my blog! I said I would, but I get busy. I finally took a few today, I had some about a week ago, but I'm not sure where Joe put them..hmm. Anyway, Adam wasn't in the best of moods so I could only get a couple of decent ones. He'll be two months tomorrow, and it's slipping by. =o(

Last night was the best night's sleep he's gotten, 5 hours woke up and then another 5. I can't ask for much better than that!

He's still our little sweetheart, so snuggly and happy. Pretty soon he'll be able to sit in his little bumbo..which is pink (I need to see if I can get someone to switch with me!)

I plan on getting more pics soon..I promise!!!

My Little Boys

2010-10-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

It's so neat to say I have two little boys. They are both so very sweet! I'm hoping they will be best buddies. Judah already talks about what he'll be able to teach Adam when he gets bigger.
Yesterday, we went to the zoo and it was Adam's first visit! Here's my little boys dressed in their crocodile shirts...

(Judah 4, Adam 5 weeks)

Road trip to GA

2010-10-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well, last weekend Mom, Beck and Brandon came to visit us. We all had a lot of fun together. I tend to decide a day or two before that I'll drive down to GA, and this was another one of those cases. So off we went to Georgia for Adam to meet more of his family. =o) On this trip so far he got to meet his Uncle Andrew, Aunt Rachel, Great-Grandma Smith, Great-Papa, Great-Grandma Wendy ;o), Great-Great Aunt Mary, Great Aunt Dottie, Great Aunt Shelia, and cousins Josh, Jeremy and Brooke. (I have no idea how to figure out the cousin thing so I won't even try..lol)

Time has been spent visiting, resting and playing. Addie and Judah have enjoyed the new swing and Adam has enjoyed snuggle time with Grammy. It all ends too soon and we'll be headed home in a couple of days... I know Daddy misses all of us. =o)

Poppy made it back from his tennis match, and Judah and him got to build a bird house shaped like a ship.

Adam's Arrival

2010-09-20T13:55:00.001-07:00

Well, It's been quite awhile since I've updated on how we're doing here. I'm hoping to do a little better now that things have slowed down a bit. Anyway, we've had our baby boy! He was born at home on September 2nd @ 7AM weight 10lbs and 7 ounces, 23 1/2 inches long. I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery.. my check has been cashed. =o) We were as surprised as everyone else at his size, but for being as long as he is..he isn't too chunky and still has those little chicken legs that Judah and Addie had.

We were expecting another Leo and got a Virgo instead. =o) He came a week and one day past his second due date of Aug 25th. This was probably the most emotional pregnancy I've had, and I'm so glad Joe has been so patient with my tearful breakdowns. ;o)

Anyway, Adam is two and a half weeks old today. We are working on sleeping better at night, but I couldn't ask for a sweeter baby. He's happy to sit quietly in his swing and watch his siblings playing or lie happily in our arms. Addie and Judah have been great with him and every now and then I'll see Judah give him a little kiss and talk with him or Addie patting his head.

Several times a day I'll look down and catch him smiling. He's such a sweetheart. We're so happy and blessed that he is finally here with us... and I think he's happy too!

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time to finally update this blog! Wow, I tend to lose track of time.

Mom and Dad brought Brandon up with them for a trip during Easter. The weather was great, and the kids played outside together most of the time. We colored and glittered easter eggs on Saturday evening. I thought this was a job best suited for Judah and Brandon. They had fun picking the colors and decorating with glitter.

We fixed an Easter Sunday meal and invited Grandma and Grandpa over for food and for the Easter egg hunt out at the Charlestown Park. Addie was tired but everyone had a blast. Brandon found the "golden egg" and won a chocolate bunny...Judah won getting exactly 16 eggs and won a chocolate bunny..and Addie got the least..so she won a chocolate bunny. =o) Everyone was happy although the chocolate candy inside the plastic eggs started melting.

Back home for naps and back to the park for some portraits.

We dragged Grammy and Poppy to Chuck E Cheese on Monday and then (upon Poppy's request) went out to Buca di Beppo Monday night. What a fun Easter weekend! =o)

Apple Pickin'

2009-10-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

We went up to Huber's last weekend, and did some apple picking! Judah found a teeny, little apple and ate it, (we were allowed to eat one per person). We ended up with about 12 lbs of apples, which half are in the crockpot right now turning into apple butter. =o)
After picking apples, we ate some of Huber's Apple cider doughtnuts, hot! Oh man they were good! We went over to the family fun area and did the corn maze, Judah drove around on a mini tractor, and Joe took him for a ride on the pedal go-carts.

It ended up getting a little too cold, so we headed out..stopping off at a little farm to grab a few pumpkins. What a fun fall day!

Judah's Jesus Jar

2009-10-05T07:59:00.001-07:00

Judah's Jesus Jar was finally full! Every time he would find a coin or two he would stick it in his pocket and tell me he would put it in his Jesus Jar. Total coins (plus a few dollars) added up to $67.54! Judah's first Jesus Jar will be helping sponsor Young Foundation's Peru project! They will be sending 50 solar panels, with batteries and inverters to the believers in Peru! You can find out more at Young Foundations!

Weekend Fun

2009-09-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we decided to do a few fun things! Saturday we drove over to Louisville for the Balloon Festival. We did get there a little too early, but Judah had fun playing on some of their bouncy bounces. We stayed long enough to eat a couple of funnel cakes (Judah chose blueberry) and see most of the hotair balloons getting ready to race. We didn't stick around long, but that was ok..it ended up raining that evening and canceling the glow.

Sunday afternoon we took the kids to the Fun House, which Judah and Adelaide both loved! And stopped off at Graeters for some ice cream. Judah got a chocolate cone and Addie got a strawberry cup..they both ate it all!

Stop 2: Oak Island!!!

2009-07-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

We left Asheville Saturday, and drove 6 hours to Oak Island, North Carolina. We manged to get there at around 6:30 pm and checked into our Beach house rental. The house wasn't too bad, nicely decorated and room enough for 8 people to sleep. The great thing was we were only a few steps from the beach, and we could see the waves from our deck. Nice!
So Sunday we relaxed and went to the beach, let Judah dig in the sand and play in the water. Addie wasn't too crazy about it to begin with..but she got used to the water eventually. The beach wasn't crowded at all! It was so nice!
Monday we drove into Wilmington, which is about 30 minutes away, and visited the Children's Museum. It's geared towards kids ages 1-8, perfect for Judah! He absolutely loved it! They had trains, a kid-sized grocery store and diner, art room, teddy bear hospital (kids could give a teddy bear a check-up) and a giant pirate ship! There was even an area for Addie to crawl around on squishy stuff.

All of it was interactive and Judah could have stayed there all day!
We did an art project in the art room...Joe helps Judah make a butterfly with wings and pipe cleaners. Judah played at the diner and served us "lunch", after shopping at the grocery.

After a few hours, we had lunch @ PT's Old Fashoined Grille (yummy burgers!) and headed over to the U.S.S. North Carolina battleship and did the tour..which was a bad idea, because it was blazing hot and halfway through climbing up and down the tight stairs we were ready to go.

Judah like some of it though..we put him in one of the giant soup pots in the galley. lol

So we went back to the Children's Museum, just in time for face painting!

And we got to check out some of the museum that we didn't look at earlier.. like this glow-in-the-dark room...

On the way back to the beach house, we stopped off and got some fresh shrimp to cook up some shrimp scampi for dinner. Afterwards we went back to the beach for a great sunset!

Summer Vacation - 1st Stop - Biltmore Estate

2009-06-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! We are taking a break from work, and traveling to North Carolina! We stopped in Asheville last night, and stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton (got at a great deal on Priceline!). It's a really nice hotel! Fluffy beds, nice decor and free Wi-Fi (which is why I get to post right now!).
We drove into the Biltmore Village last night and had a yummy dinner at La Paz, love their fish tacos! I'd definitely eat there again. =o) We had to buy Joe some sunglasses for the trip, and Judah had to have some Spiderman ones.

Took a stroll down to a playground next to an old church, and let Judah run around for a little bit. Addie & Judah liked the little tunnel.

This morning we woke up bright and early, swung by a pharmacy for some socks (which I forgot to pack), and made our way to the Biltmore Estate! All I can say is it's amazing! All the acres of land... and the huge, huge house (castle as Judah would say). It's just awesome! We managed to do the self-guided tour through most of the house before taking a break for lunch. If you are just doing lunch, I would suggest packing one or driving back out to MickyD's..talk about over-priced! Anyway, back to tour and finished up looking at the Basement with it's gigantic indoor pool.

Needless to say we were worn out after that, Judah was too..Addie managed to take a nap or two in the babyhawk. So although we would have liked to walk through the gardens and check out the farm,etc...we settled for driving through the park. Judah fell asleep before we could even get out of the gate. As you can see from the picture underneath, Teddy managed to make it on this trip to the Biltmore...we had to get a picture of both of them together. (Judah really loves Teddy!)

...Addie is fond of him too!

We drove back into the Biltmore Village, and stopped at the Ice cream Garden for an ice cream cone. Then headed back to the hotel...where everyone took a nap.
We checked out the Mellow Mushroom for dinner. It's within walking distance from our hotel, so we walked...super busy but very, very tasty! Joe had a pepperoni calzone and I tried the Chicken Jerk grilled sandwich. Yum!
Tomorrow we plan to check out the Tupelo Honey Cafe, which is supposed to be a big deal around here, for "brunch". (So hopefully that will cover breakfast and lunch.) I heard they are known for their sweet potato pancakes!
Then it's on to Oak Island, NC to the beach! Judah has been talking about it the whole trip (I don't think he was super thrilled about the Biltmore..lol).

Spring and Sugar Cookies

2009-04-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a long time since I've updated this blog! Sorry! We've been busy! Joe is done with crazy hours and life is finally getting back to normal. =o)

Over the weekend we took the kids to the park, Adelaide loves to swing and Judah loves playing the sand. It's was a lot of fun, and we try to make it to the park pretty often! Here's some pics of them!

I bought some alphabet cookie cutters and I promised Judah we would make sugar cookies together. He probably ate more cookie dough than cookies! He kept sneaking some (even though I noticed), and ever single time he would tell on himself..."I ate just a little bit". It was pretty funny. I hope he remembers helping me in the kitchen. =o)

A few pics of Addie =o)

2009-03-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

Joe has been busy working overtime.. which means I sorta work overtime taking care of the kids. I was happy to go visit mom and dad and the fam down in GA for a week, so that was a nice break for me! =o)

We just got this cute skirtie in the mail and I just had to show her in it. It's knitted wool by the way, you can lanolize it and use it for a diaper cover (over cloth diapers)there is a knitted soaker underneath.

And just because she was so cute after her bath..her hair was all sticking up!

buddies

2009-03-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

Keeping busy! Just wanted to show off some new wool that Addie got in the mail recently! I got this set from Jeanine who also knitted Addie's "staying home" outfit. =o)

I also got a few pics of the kids with their teddy bears. Mom bought one for each of them when they were born. Judah sleeps with his and loves him. Addie's is actually bigger than Judah's, I hope she loves hers as much as Judah loves his...

..and I've decided to pick up my knitting again, all these awesome wool colorways I see online is making me what to knit Addie some longies. So I started practicing and finished this hat...it was blue (I don't know what I got blue!) so I embellished it with little flowers. It's a tad bit big for her and she keeps pulling it off. =oP

Dino tails!

2009-02-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

More sewing fun! I saw these cute Dinosaur tails and had to make one for Judah. I drew everything out and sewed it up..pretty easy peasy. Judah really likes it.. so fun to be a kid and pretend! =o) You can find these at: The Blue Orange on Etsy!

Monsters in the Mailbox & Bob the Builders

2009-02-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

I had to show a picture of these cute cute monster shorties I custom ordered from naturallybaby.com!!
I picked out the colors, gave her measurements and told her what I wanted. She got them done in record time and they are adorable! Perfect for summer! I've been wanting to Monster wool ever since I had seen Crankypants when Judah was little, now you have a hard time getting on their waiting list and a custom is sky high!

Over the weekend we went and got a desk and put up shelves in an attempt to declutter and organize the playroom/workroom/computerroom/etc. I'll have to get pics of everything, it looks a lot more organized. Joe snapped a few shots of Judah helping build the desk... our Bob the Builder.

Sewing for fun

2009-02-20T12:43:00.001-08:00

I've finally got around to doing a little sewing just for the fun of it (not work related). LOL I did this really simple dress, and I plan to make a couple of more in different prints. So cute and perfect for summer!
I'll probably make a pair of fleece pants for underneath for the rest of the winter and a soaker for summer.

Addie's first word

2009-02-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

I know this doesn't really count as a first word... but I'd like to think so! =o)

...more snow

2009-02-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

More snow fell today... it managed to cover up our nicely shoveled driveway. Just a small amount compared to what went on last week. yuck.

Anyway, life goes on. Judah has been learning to recognize his letters..for the past two mornings we have been going over a pre-school curriculum, part of which he already knows. Today we learned the letter M and the number 2..and went over the color yellow. He really likes playing school and hanging his work on the refrigerator. =o)

Yesterday someone came and picked up our futon (from craigslist)..and my plan is to use that money and space to make a play/school area. I am really inspired by this mom's playroom!

Taxes have been filed! TurboTax is a wonderful thing! You can file online! We did the free version (which you have to pay to file state $25).

Tomorrow the plan is to get up early and sew, before we're off to grandma's house.
And here's what's on my laptop background. =o)

(sorry for the scattered train of thought in this post.. I think I'm losing my mind from cabin fever! lol)

Snow and Ice

2009-01-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

Welp, I guess I knew it was coming. =oP Being from Georgia, I'm still not used to the winters here, even after 5 years. lol Anyway, we've got about 5 inches on the ground right now with ice coming down. Joe came home early and it looks like he'll be here tomorrow too. Fingers crossed for Rebecca and Andrew to come up this weekend to see us! =o) (we miss ya'll!)

On a different note, Dad sent this poem and I thought I'd post it. I think it would apply to quite a few of us.

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New
York Hospital...

***** SLOW DANCE *****

Have you ever watched kids:

On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask How are you? Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done do you lie in your bed
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time to call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.... thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Goodmama photo shoot

2009-01-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been awhile since I've blogged! I've been busy with Addie and Judah lately. We've also been working for over three weeks on renovating the bathroom. That nightmare is finally over and we can now breathe again! The bathroom is a whole other post, and I'll get to that when I have some pictures for you. Joe did an awesome awesome job and we're super happy with the way it turned out!

Anyway, I was lucky enough to do a trade with another mom and finally got to try out a goodmama diaper! These are crazy popular right now! One of the fun things they do is a weekly photo contest. You can win a new goodmama. =o) Anyway we decided to take a few pics and hopefully get a good one to enter the contest this week. Here's what we got:

And Judah got in on the fun too! Addie loves pulling Judah's hair and you can see the mischievous look in her eyes in the bottom picture. lol I can tell she going to be getting him into trouble in the future.

Another year...

2009-01-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Finally got around to doing this.. There's not quite enough pics on my computer to actually recap every special event in each month..but it's fun anyway!
Recapping our family in 2008!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Christmas Vacation!

2008-12-31T13:07:00.000-08:00

Yay for Vacations! lol This year we traveled once again to Georgia to see my family over the Christmas Holiday. The weather was warm... I can't tell you how much I love warm weather! When we left Indiana Sunday night, it was 7 degrees! Anyway, it was great seeing everyone and spend Christmas together!
We planned on leaving to come back home on Saturday morning, but Friday we saw the weather was going to be 75 degrees, hmmm... maybe we should try and go to the beach! So we loaded up the kids and headed to Tybee Island...and I'm so glad we did!

We got there that morning and fog was covering the water.. we walked for awhile on the sand. It was a bit chilly with the breeze off the water, so we checked out the Marine Science center..which had different kinds of fish and turtles to look at.

Then we walked along the pier and watched all the people and birds... so relaxing! Addie fell asleep in her babyhawk.

We decided to go to Fannie's on the beach for lunch. I had eaten there probably over 10 years ago, and I couldn't forget their nachos! We also tried their shrimp burger which was really yummy too!
Back to the beach to dig and play in the sand...the water was chilly, but there were still kids in bathing suits jumping in the water!
It was so nice and relaxing! Maybe next time we'll stay for a week! =o)

Thanksgiving

2008-12-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been awhile since I've updated this blog. Sorry folks! Life sure does get bustling and busy over the holidays!
We took a drive down to GA to be with my family over Thanksgiving. Judah of course loves seeing Poppy and Grammy!

Here's my brother, Andrew, with Addie.

On the long drive down we stopped off at a rest area and let Judah run around.

Me and Addie rocking on the porch.

Fired!!!

2008-11-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

No, no one has lost their job! =D I picked up our painted ceramics that have been fired! They turned out great! A lot better than we expected! If you look at the "Unexpected Fun" posting, you'll see the before pictures. The football helmet looked pink in that photo, but it's definitely red! Go Dawgs!
I'm so excited how these turned out, we'll probably go back soon! I'd like to paint a piggy bank for little Adelaide!

I also snapped this shot of Judah coloring today. He was replacing a crayon in his crayon roll-up!

Busy Bazaar Weekend!

2008-11-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Bazaar..not Bizarre. ;oP And busy too! Lately I find myself looking for fun and creative things to do/make! Usually that leads me jumping from one project to another and then back again! When the homeschool group in our area decided to have a Holiday Bazaar I figured "why not?!"
Ok so I only decided to do this a week beforehand..which probably wasn't the best of ideas. I'm busy enough as it is..but I figured it would be fun! So off I went to the fabric store and spent a small fortune on tulle! I think I went a little overboard..thinking of all the wonderful colors and how great they would look for fluffy tutus! This was after I had decided to make crayon roll-ups (that's what I call them anyway.)! Essentially I ran out of time, but that's ok.
Here's the fruits of my labor!

On a different note...

Unexpected fun!

2008-11-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

Out of the blue, my mom, one of my sisters (I have two..and a brother) and my nephew decided to drive the 8 hours to come see us over this past weekend! Why not with the price of gas dropping under $2!?

So while we played hooky from our work, we visited and came up with a few fun things to do. We raked up leaves in the front yard with our broken rake (yeh it has no handle). Brandon and Judah had a ton of fun jumping in that small pile of leaves! The pile got even smaller as the leaves got crushed to a pulp!

Saturday we decided to do what I've always wanted to! We went a painted at this pottery place near here, Earth and Fire. Brandon chose a football helmet, Rebecca picked out a penguin ornament and Judah picked a race car. I also helped Judah with a train ornament. It was fun to begin with, but for a two year old...well let's just say he wanted to paint everything else. Mom is the best painter out of all of us! She had chosen a little snowman, very cute! This Saturday I'll be picking them up from being fired.

After painting we took the kids the "The Fun House" and let them run out some of that energy! What a fun day!

...here I am!

2008-11-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

I've finally decided to create a blog just about me and my family. I hope to look back on my posts and remember what fun we've had and how great life is!
As most of my family and friends know, we had our second kiddo just this past July! Adelaide was born at home and it was one of the best experiences ever!
Now we have our little 2 year old boy, Judah and our little girl. It's great being a mom! =o)

While staying at home with my little ones I also run a small business making "fluffy stuff for little monsters" with my mom. It's a great way to unwind and let the creative juices flow... so to speak.

My Hubby, Joe, is an aspiring photographer. He's the one that is typically behind the camera.. so you may not see him as often. You can check out his fantastic photos at his blog!