Pettiskirt

So, I splurged. I ordered a custom birthday outfit for the babe. However, the pettiskirt that was coming from Hong Kong, arrived one day late. A day late and a few pictures short. It is absolutely adorable! I will take her in for her 1 year old pictures after Christmas. A big thank you to the husband that ran out and found a pink frilly skirt to substitute for the party. But here are the pics of what she should have worn.......

LOVE this baby butt!

Happy First Birthday Party!

The final First Birthday Bash is over and done with. A little bittersweet I must admit. At our home, birthdays are a big deal. We celebrate our children and make their day as special as possible. This includes a coordinated theme, balloons (tons of balloons), streamers, cake, and lots of fun! I have to admit, it has taken my husband a few birthdays to come around to the balloons and celebration extravaganza. However, he is now onboard. I just love to decorate and see the birthday kid's face when they see all the fun around the house. This year, it was no less special. Tess came down from her nap to see all the birthday fun and was just too cute. She has not stopped pointing at her monkey balloons yet!

We had all the family over to celebrate with presents, appetizers, and cake. So much fun! We are definitely blessed with such a large and loving family. Tess was such a cute little birthday girl, and although her pettiskirt did not arrive on time (note: do not order from Hong Kong off Etsy unless you have a 2 month wait) Daddy pulled through and picked up a cute skirt from Target and saved the outfit! Thanks Daddy! And thanks Daddy for buying your baby girl's first flowers!

Monkey

Dear Sweet Tessy Boo,
You are a gift. We hoped and prayed and tried and worked hard and never thought we would have you. In fact, we were resigned to just having two children.....and then SURPRISE! You, my little miracle, my gift from GOD arrived! I love you so. So much more than you will ever understand. You complete this family absolutely. Our little monkey with the biggest smile I have ever seen. You are full of joy! Always. (Well, not really in the middle of the night. Your dad and I think there is a case of the baby snatcher happening at night because we don't understand how sweet little you can be so angry in the middle of the night!) You are just a gentle little soul that fills me with wonder. Cale and Mary love you so much! Everyone of us is head over heels in love....with you! Thank you for coming to our family. Thank you for the smiles. And dear, sweet Tess....thank you for the bazillion "Hi"s that you say everyday. You have the sweetest breathy little voice! (except at night.) And lastly,

Happy Birthday!!!

A little Santa Magic!

Well, Santa is still magical over in this home! My little girl has told me that "He sure is special" and my boy said "It must be the real Santa!" after their visit yesterday. And it helps that Santa sent us an elf that is watching us! This little elf, Max, appeared on our kitchen table with a book about him. Mary was a little scared of the elf, not wanting to look at it since it was watching her! Too cute. But, Cale knew right away that Santa sent him to check on us~Santa had told us he would be watching when we visited! This year the kids are quite clear on what they want for Christmas.

Cale:

-Hogwarts Lego Castle

-Snowboarding gear

-Dog Pillow Pet

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Mary:

-Fluffy ZhuZhu Pet

-Leapster (a GIRL one!)

-Fancy Nancy Doll

-Unicorn Pillow Pet

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Tess:

This little girly just smiled and said "hi"!

(Big brother asked for something Monkey)

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I can't wait for Christmas. The presents are slowly getting wrapped and under the tree. I am yet to make my official list, seems hard to ask for anything when we are so blessed. I do find it hard to want for anything these days. Maybe some time for myself. But, that is not something that can be wrapped! We will have a busy couple weeks coming into the official Christmas Time, I will be working a lot which tends to upset the whole rhythm of this family. I think we are all looking forward to the start of my 12 hour day shifts in January.

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I am sure my next post will be in celebration of my beautiful baby turning ONE! Don't fret, her custom made birthday outfit is being shipped as we speak, the party supplies arrived yesterday, and yes, I will be making her custom cake! Yes, that is a lot, but, she is my baby. I love that girly. Catch you later with a post about the big day!!

Unexpected Joy!

I looked out the window a minute ago and this is what I saw.......







Unexpected Joy! For me, for them! Here were my two oldest riding down the hill on this little sled together. Not fighting, running back up the hill together with GIANT grins on their faces! It's hard to tell but I think I am grinning even bigger! What a blessed gift! Hope it adds a little joy to others too! Never knew that a heart could smile until I had these kids, oh how this makes me fill up with joy until it's bubbling out!

Ode to my Piles

To honor fully this place in my life, I do not want this blog to exclude the mess....

I really should be in the kitchen picking it all up. If I were a much braver person, I would post a picture or pictures of this house in all it's glory. But, I am not. No, the mess I call my own will remain that. I do try. Oh how I try. But somehow, there is always something better to do than to start on it. Part of this is that in order to accomplish what I want done, there will be a MUCH bigger mess. I am talking dumpster full of crap that I just don't want to deal with anymore. Yes, I have a pile on the counter to be sorted under the phone. That stuff is to keep. Just need to know where I am keeping it. Then I have the pile on the counter that is the mail. It just keeps coming in each day and there is never time to sort it and be done. (And a certain husband is unable to sort out junk mail). So that waits. Then there are a couple bags of returns to make to the stores. Ugh. Hate having to return things. And then there is the clutter from cooking/cleaning/serving all these meals to my kids. 3 times a day! Plus snacks! Oh how I hate that there are dishes required in cooking/serving food. So, there is always some kind of dish that is waiting. And let me add that I find that when I am done with dishes I turn around and trip over a dropped sippy cup or that there is a mystery dish sitting on the table.


Lucky for me, I do not need to blog about the laundry pile. That's because yesterday I did it all........all 10 loads of laundry! So, those piles are magically gone! But there are winter clothes strewn around in random spots, and there are toys that a little rugrat is dragging around the house. And a pile of Legos. (I secretly hope I always have a pile of Legos). My boy and Legos...gives me a great big smile.

So, here is the post to remind me of the mess I live in and with. I hate it. Every day I hate it. I am the one that would get angry about roommates in college using the wrong towel for dishes and here I sit in a messy/cluttered home. This I thank the 3rd born child for. I have yet to hit my rhythm. I keep promising myself that come January with 12 hour days I will find it. I will have a cleaner home. We will get organized. We will host the world's biggest garage sale. We will not have piles. Well, they might be smaller. Let's not get carried away here.

Be warned you piles, you are on your way out. I have a plan to be rid of you. I am bigger and at some point will be in charge again. So, until then, sit where you are. Please don't fall to the floor and be colored on by a random child. I see posts on Facebook from an old classmate that does organizing...she just posted the other day that she was cleaning a counter that had not been cleaned off for 8 years. Makes me smile, did it make you? Actually it made me giggle that mine are not in that poor of state. Made me feel pretty darn good. Because, let's admit, I am doing my best. I fall back on what a good friend told me who's children are grown.....Thank you Nancy for your wisdom. I will leave you with her words; "Relax Beth, the chores will wait and be there, but your children won't".

Winter Wonderland

Ah yes, welcome winter!!! The first snow has fallen!

At all of 8:25 am the kidlets were bundled and outside....not just ours, but most all the neighbors. So, with coffee in hand I stood and watched out the window to witness their joy. Pure JOY!!! My son has been waiting for snow. Asking on occasion when it would fall so that he could eat it! I did venture out onto our patio to snap a few shots of the kids and even some out the window and then decided today I had to join them. We built a snowman,

Tess was given her first taste of snow (by Cale, THE connoisseur of snow eating!)

I tried the kiddy snowboard and did not break any bones, and then I took my bigguns sledding. Absolutely WONDERFUL! Might I also add that I happened to capture one of my all time favorite pictures yet? My three adorably beautiful snowkids. I love them!

I just love that picture, all 3 happy babes!!

And here last of all, is Tess first official time outside playing in the snow.

Isn't she just so cute?

Rub A Dub Dub!

Rub a Dub Dub, 3 Kiddos in the tub!!
Just feeling a little nostalgic and was wanting to have an entry showing my 3 babies in the tub! Who can resist that sweet baby skin in the water with little hands splashing!

Sweet Little Buddy

Missy Mary Macaroni

Tessy Boo, our little Monkey

I have to admit, I am certainly going to miss the bath time with a baby! They are just so sweet and cute! The other day Tessy had us cracking up trying to sample her bath water. She was on a mission and was dipping her hand in her cup in the tub and drinking it off her fingers....Gross, I know. But oh so sweet!

All Credit to Naomi Liester

This past week my friend Naomi took these amazing pictures of our family. I asked her because she is just so good at capturing personalities in her pictures. And, being a mother of 3, I went knowing I would get what I got. And that's what we did. Naomi caught some wonderfully beautiful moments! My goal of a family picture was a lofty one and we did get some family pictures.....and they are that. Pictures of this family, in all of it's chaos! In each one someone is pouting, others smiling, some not even looking! That is no surprise, that is my life. So, thank you to a good friend for being so patient. For tolerating the chaos. And managing to capture some great pictures within all that!!!

Yes, we do have another little girl with curly hair. Where is her picture, well, it's coming. That little girl needed a retake, with the bribe of M&Ms for each time she looked at the camera. So, that's what we did. Naomi, thank you, I can't wait to see Missy Mary's pictures! M&Ms work wonders, never underestimate the value of chocolate and bribery!

Counting My Blessings

~This was written 4 days ago~

Just recently my neighbor loaned me a book. I had told her I was out of reading material (if you know me, you know I LOVE to read). Seriously, I had read every book in our household, with the exception of my husband's business text books! So, just as I was going to leave her home after visiting she remembered some books she had on loan from her church library. Me, skeptical. If you know me, reading some religious literature usually is not by choice. So, I borrowed one of my neighbor's books. I love it. It has helped me to re-evaluate this life. This book, is so much more than a book. She's Gonna Blow! is the title. Yes, I have Blown it. In fact, the husband saw it and said so much to me. Actually, he said "Don't they mean She's Blown?". If you read this and know me, you know I am candid, do not mince words, and am honest. With myself, and with others. I have to admit. The last year has been a struggle. New baby, new adjustments. New schedule. New pressures. I admit, I have blown it. I also know that I am not the only mother to have done this. My point. That's what you are thinking. Me too. What is my point. My point is I wanted to share this book. Write down how I felt after reading it, so I am able to look back and remember maybe to read it again. And again. And again. It's a good reminder to stop and cherish, love, and appreciate all that I am blessed with in this life. And now, a little count of my blessings:

• Chris
• Cale
• Mary
• Tessy
• My Parents
• My Sister
• My wonderful husband's family
• Our pets
• My "Dream" Job (seriously I did wish to do this as a little girl!)
• My great friends
• Fall
• Leaves in the street that crunch!
• A home
• A borrowed cabin
• Coffee

Okay, I guess I could go on and on. This is a pretty blessed life if you ask me! It would be great if I could remember that more often in the heat of the parenting moments. Sometimes this whole parenting thing really cramps my style. I said I was honest! There are days I just want to let it go. Ignore the absolute hideous behaviors because since the first 100 times I disciplined for said behavior it obviously didn't work. So, why bother is what I think. Then the next moment I think, "because I will not accept this behavior, did not the last 100 times and will not again." Although, it would be easier to just let it go. Oh, how I wish. So, I must need to add another blessing or two. Thank you to the dear Lord that blessed me with 3 children that possess such vibrantly strong and determined personalities! I have been told by the pediatrician that these personalities will serve them well, I just need to wait until they are 10 or so. Just fabuous! So, I have 3 years for Cale, 7 for Mare, and 10 for Tess. Well, each day is closer! Until then, I will continue to discipline, continue to try to remember to count the blessing for there are many, and enjoy these precious years of childhood!

Indian Summer

I just love fall. It is by far my favorite season of all. I always get giddy with the sense of newness, renewal, and starting over that comes with the transition from hot, humid days into shorter, cooler and comfortable ones. I have to admit, things seem to look better, colors are more vibrant and I just feel that much better! I love to start cooking again, take time with my kids, and just start fresh. I don't think I will ever lose the back to school excitement or change that comes with fall. Don't get me wrong, it is not lost on me that this is weird. Spring should say renewal, but is doesn't for me. So should new changes and fresh starts come in January. I guess I will leave all those up to other people. For me, all that comes in fall. I love fall. I love it, I love it, and I love it!!!

And, just look at these pictures. I love her. All 16 1/2 lbs of her!

I love this family that I am blessed with. All 5 of us!

I love him. The love of my life and my best friend.

And I just love these 3. Love them.

Love them.

Love them.

This life is not perfect. So far from perfect it makes me laugh. And cry. And have tantrums occasionally just like my 3 year old. (Just had a good one last night!) But I do love it. I love the ups and downs. I love the rollercoaster we are on. This is a journey. Not every moment is perfect, nor should they be. Without the imperfections I would never notice the perfection that peeks out just once and a while.

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Today was that once in a while. 80 degree weather on October 8th!! Perfect. Bliss. Wonderful. Loved every moment of being outside. So warm out we wore shorts and T-shirts. But then there were the colors of the leaves and the smells of fall! What a perfect night for our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We go every year to this one and I love it each time. I love that it's so cute. I love that I am a little crazy/crabby/stressed every year in hopes of capturing the perfect pictures of my little loves! I laugh every time we drive away at myself. Seriously. I can be too much sometimes. For real. I don't deny that. And I love it about me. I love that I want just the perfect picture that captures my kids' spirits and ages and the feel of fall. So, once again I got just the pictures I wanted. Perfect weather, perfect pictures, perfect end of year ice cream treat with the kids! Indian Summer......I love it!

What's Cooking!?!

So, I have found myself in possession of some great recipes this summer/fall and have been required to try them out. Compulsively trying them out is more like it! There is just something so fun about finding a new recipe and then whipping it up and loving it! I have also found myself wanting to document these feats with photos. So, here is a small selection of what's been cooking! Puff Pancake

Recipe ala Heidi

(Fabulous with fresh fruit and powdered sugar!)

Singapore Street Noodles

recipe ala internet

(These are a new favorite of mine. Better than the restaurant's!)

"Kristen Bread"

recipe ala Kristen

(My children and I give many thanks to the greatest neighbor for this special treat!)

Alas, those are the only photos I have taken. Some other great treats have been the search for the perfect French Breakfast Muffins! (We all must have ingested 2 lbs of butter each in this quest) No lie, I have made about 3 or 4 different recipes in search for one we made in junior high. I found one close.

This fall we have been making apple sauce. Yum, homemade apple sauce. Never had it until this year and am now a bit irked that I have been paying for Musselman's to make it all these years. It is so simple to make and tastes "light years better" than that which you can purchase according to the huband. Must admit, the kids and he eat it up faster than I can make it! Have managed to sneak a few quarts into the freezer too.

We have had Lake Eleven fried fish 3 times this summer! That is a record. A meal of sunnies, a meal of bass, and then the best meal of Northern. Delish!

Other new recipes and innovations are homemade manicotti, chicken enchiladas (my personal fave, thanks Lori!), crock pot chicken recipes, some really great apple muffins, monkey bread and a whole bunch of others that aren't coming to mind!

I do say, I hate the dishes. HATE THEM! But, I do love home cooked meals from scratch. So, every few weeks I find myself on a bender and whip up a few recipes all at once. Today I made 2 types of homemade bread; white which tastes great but looks ugly (this recipe needs some work), and Kristen bread. I also made applesauce and then dinner. Loved all of it. Loved that the girls let me get this all done! Now I don't need to cook for a week! Especially since that great picture (featured above) of Noodles still sits calling my name in the fridge. Yum. I love food! Always have and always will!

Back to School

The first week of school is done and over. And truthfully I am so done and over with this week! What an adventure it has been! Everyone is exhausted from the new schedules and routine and nerves are frayed. In fact, I think all 5 of us are hanging by threads. Good thing I have all weekend and know how to knit!

Cale has loved 1st grade. In fact, he is so disappointed that there is no homework that yesterday he tried to stuff a book into his bag from his bookshelf to try to fool me that he had work to do. Sorry little man, I did not trust what you were doing in your room.....who would have thought you were trying to give yourself homework? Next time, I will try to trust more and not be suspicious of a child running into their room with their backpack before they show me what's in it. But seriously, the homework will come. Such a cute little man. Warms my heart just thinking about his face yesterday wishing he had work.

Here he is leaving the house:

Mary just fell into preschool like she had done it a million times. She, as usual, didn't even need to say good-bye. I think she wondered why I hung around a little. Well my darling Mary, you are just too cute and I love to see you do your thing! Speaking of which, she was doing "her thing" at Costco today. They had a music kiosk up and we had to stop and pause so she could rock out much to the delight of the other shoppers! (and of course me) If you haven't seen this happen, you really are MISSING OUT! The girl can rock! I am never tired of watching her dance party. The best is when she asks for Bon Jovi. Seriously, could the girl get any cuter?

So, here we are at the end of the week. I find myself at the end of my rope. Time to take a deep breath. Already poured the drink and it's time to relax and revel in the fact that the husband will be home shortly to help out. That there is no bus to catch tomorrow. That after a short bible school training, my boyfriend and I will get a cup of coffee without any kids. Some things are good. Who am I kidding, things are great! I have 3 beautiful children, a great husband, and this blessed life adventure that we are on together.......

Oh, and did I mention that Monkey can now crawl, wave, and (if you can believe it) is giving Mary a run for the money in language skills? Babbling all the time!!! How I love my little Monkey.

My Boy

Lucky. Blessed. And ever so grateful.

Today we took our little family to the MOA to celebrate Cale's 7th birthday. This is our tradition that on their birthday the birthday person may pick whatever they want to do and we all go and have a blast. We did have a blast! We rode rides we never had been on and were having a great time! Time as a family, time as a Mom and Son! See, this year I am not pregnant and got to ride the rides with my boy.

Oh my boy. My boy, my boy, my boy.

I write this with tears in my eyes, so grateful things turned out the way they did. See, in the quick second it took for you to slip coming off the log chute everything became crystal clear. You fell and I could not catch you. Your sweet little man/boy arm got caught between the edge of the canal and that giant, heavy log boat. Watching you slowly get dragged along with your arm stuck and you screaming, me screaming......

I never realized how many thoughts a person can have in a short moment. Watching and thinking your arm was being severed. Wondering how we were going to get you to the hospital, were you going to keep your arm? How bad is this going to be? Did your dad hear me screaming with all my being? Where is he? Why is this ride not stopping. Please stop. Please quit hurting my little man. Please don't drag him further under. Please stop. Please let him be okay. Please let me be the one hurt. Please, oh, please God. Then it stopped.

I pulled myself off you. Gently pulled you out. Clutched you to my chest.

My boy. Oh my boy. What a visceral, crazy love I have for you. I could feel your pain to my inner depths. You were so scared. I was so scared.

By nothing short of a miracle your arm was not torn open. Some scraping. Nasty bruising. Needless to say, I took you in to Orthopedics Urgent care. I love those people. Thank you for opening the clinic next to my hospital. I forgive you for disrupting the traffic flow during construction.

My boy. I love you so. I love you so, so much. Tonight I was given just a glimpse of how deep and visceral and incredible this love is. I have always loved you to death. You are my boy. After this close call I am so very grateful for experiencing how powerful my love is for you. Thank you Lord. Thank you for all I have. Thank you for my boy. And thank you, that was enough of that feeling for a lifetime. I will never complain if I never feel that deeply the depth of my love for this amazing child. Please keep him safe in his journey.

I love you my boy, my buddy.

Where has the time gone?

Nearly 7 years old!






6 Years! Loving Pokemon!




5 Years and totally into sharks!




4 Years old, the Cars saga continues!





3 Years old, Just discovering Cars!




2 Years old, could you be any sweeter?



1 Year old!!!
My Buddy! You LOVE balls and are about as round as one!




Wow! We are about to celebrate Cale's 7th birthday!! I can't believe this. Seems like yesterday we were staying at Hotel Fairivew in room 227. Man, how time flies. What an amazing ride this is. I just can't believe how big and smart and independent Cale is. My boy. My buddy. Oh yes, my buddy.




Cale,
You are the little man in my life forever. I love you beyond words. You amaze me with your gentle, sweet little soul. And yes, you amaze me with you intensity. I have been told this will serve you well later in life and I am sure it will. You are tenacious, caring, inquiring, cautious, smart, gentle, and the greatest thing that happened to me. You made me a mother. Thank you, for that. I can't wait to celebrate all your birthdays and watch how you grow and change. This year you start First Grade and I love that you are so excited and can't wait to see you learn all new things, but, I am also deeply saddened that my little man is going to be gone all day most every day. I feel like I am losing a part of you. My heart catches each time I think of it and I need to choke back tears. Oh how I have loved sharing all this world can offer with you by my side each day! But now I will look forward to hearing all about your school adventures and what happens in those hours you are gone! I love you more than you will ever know!

Love,
Mommy




p.s. I am so glad that you still call me "Mommy!" I pray it lasts another year or two!

Happy Birthday to my BUDDY!

Warp Speed!

Well, so much for my hopes of blogging daily....weekly....monthly. Looks more like quarterly with this crazy family of mine! So much has been going on that I just haven't kept up and this new blogging thing just got left, like a bunch of other things. So in the past 5 months here is what has been happening;

Life!

That is what has been happening to us.....trips to the dentist, garage sale, remodeling, moving around kid rooms, a trip to Florida, a trip up to the Lake, a waterpark weekend, and just plain old life. With my return to work, life has been a struggle for us daily. This has been a very difficult (and still is) adjustment period for all members of our family. But in these last couple months, there have been some really great times that we have had! I will post some pictures from the last couple months to give you a snapshot of the good times. I am THRILLED to death, that no one has documented the difficult/crazy/sleep deprived moments! Hopefully life will smooth out and it will be smooth sailing before long......one can only hope!

Tessy is growing, although not like a weed. She is our little peanut. At 4 months she weighed 11 pounds 15 oz. A little comparison here is that her brother and sister were 15-10 and 14-13 respectively at the same age. Tess is just the sweetest little peanut. Full of smiles and joy! She definitely has a strong opinion of how she likes thigs, but, if she is held she is content and full of smiles. Naps and sleeping are better. Sleeping through the night is something I only dream about. But, I know it will come at some point!

Mary can't wait to start preschool this fall. She just had VBS and LOVED it! So, we now cruise in our Swagger Wagon listening to the cd that has the music from the camp. Yes, we all sing along and even some do the had movements that she learned. Oh how I love this girly! Always dirty or finding the mess. She will not have any clothes to pass down to Tess except for playclothes. Hers are always wrecked. But, she is enjoying life and growing up so fast!

Today is Cale's last day of Kindergarten. How did this happen? I feel as though we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. Where has the time gone? I tear up thinking about how he is about to launch into school forever and that we will only have summers and evenings with him. He is playing soccer and baseball and loves it! What a helper this boy has become, some days more than others. He has the most sensitive and generous heart (today he had to get a gift for his bus drive in addition to the teacher gift!) I miss my little buddy....but know that he must grow up. Check with me tomorrow or later and I will probably tell you it isn't happening fast enough!

So, we have had some amazing times and some not so great days. Sleep deprivation and change do that to a person. I am not perfect, and I do not strive to be. However, that being said, I do strive to be better each day and to do better. So, here goes. I will try to keep up with my blogging more often. And just maybe I will share it with a select few. Maybe. I need to think on that.