Tuesday, December 29, 2009


The snow here has been crazy - I do not remember ever having so much... I was in TN for about 6 years but still. After Brian spent 3 1/2 hours digging out our driveway (the first time...) and the roads were cleared we ventured out to discover that a little small city living was brought to our little town. They installed temporary round abouts in many of the intersections. I did not get a picture of the really big ones - these were two days out from the snow...



Saturday, December 26, 2009

I have never really been one to do the whole Santa thing and have always just followed my kids lead on this. So this year Eli seemed to be into it a little more. We had our little family Christmas on Christmas Eve day and thanks to the meter reader and a neighborhood cat Eli was convinced that Santa came to our back door w/his reindeer. He seemed excited so we went with it...


Tuesday, December 22, 2009

So I just got finished listening to a 4 year old's dissertation on why it would be perfectly practical for him to sleep in his sisters room followed by a 2 year old's unequivocal support of the proposal... Got to love my children.

As I did dishes this morning Kiley found the Fall decorations and redecorated for me...apparently the Christmas ones were not enough for her taste. I walk into the living room as she is finishing and she says, "OK, there!"

Eli just came back out of his room and says, "I do not think that I know how to fall asleep." Really?! It is amazing how quickly one masters the art of staling.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Yesterday the kids were playing and Eli comes to me and says, "Hey mom I went to the store and got you something, come and see." They were both pretty proud of themselves.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Not to much to share but has been awhile...

For those of you not in KS or NE it is freezing (actually well below) it is to cold to enjoy any of the massive amounts of snow that we have - the kind of cold that takes longer to bundle the kids up to play than the actual time they will be able to spend playing. Anyway we have been spending most of our time inside (except for Brian who spent the last couple weeks deer hunting for the first time...)

We had our first Christmas last weekend with my family and as always we attempted a group picture of the grandkids...


It is nice to spread them out a little so you can enjoy them a little more. Kiley's early Christmas present to me was potty training. Anytime I gear up for the fight or the long haul she surprised me with ease.



Last week Brian and I headed to the plaza in KC for an overnight get away. We ate at the Melting Pot and had a lot of fun just hanging out kid free! I have always liked the Plaza lights and it had been many years since we had been. The kids stayed with grandma and Papa and had a lot of fun.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

I am in search of the perfect cinnamon roll recipe. I am looking for some big fluffy ones that stay moist. I have not found a recipe that stays moist or maybe I am not doing something to keep them that way?! I would love to hear any tips or recipes. Thank you!

Saturday, November 28, 2009





Favorite Pictures of the week!

I have been a little on the grumpy side lately (sorry if you have been around for that)and what horrible timing with Thanksgiving too?! Anyway I am so thankful for all that God has blessed me with and sometimes I tend to forget so I decided to make a little list of things that I am especially thankful for today...

My family and two beautiful kids who challenge and love me every day
Shelter over my head as the winter approaches
Christmas decorations that add a little cheer
Wide open spaces to enjoy God's beauty
The stars in the sky that you can see so well around here on a clear evening
baby wipes - I should own stock in them
soft carpet
a king sized bed
cell phone - seriously would be lost without it
over sized sweatshirts
slip on shoes
parks and sidewalks
time to play with my children
Grandma and Grandpa who are close
...

Right now above all I am so thankful that regardless of what is going on around me God is allowing me to see the little blessings in and among it all. I always liked the little saying, "What God brings you to, He will bring you through."

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

So yesterday at nap my son comes running out of his room right after I had read his book and he was to be napping...He looked a bit panicked so I fought my usual response of, "You need to be in your room it is nap time." and asked him what was up. He proceeded to tell me that he had just had a scary thought and that he did not know if he was going to be in Heaven or Hell... We spent some time talking and he prayed and accepted Christ to be his personal savior! I was excited yet causes wanting to make sure he understood what he had done...

Fast forward to today at lunch. I was retrieving more food when Eli starts telling Kiley that he has something important that she needs to know and he starts repeating back the prayer that we had said yesterday and having Kiley repeat the words she complies until about half way through and then said no. Eli became very frustrated and kept telling her that if she would pray it that she could live in heaven with Jesus forever...It opened up the opportunity to talk about understanding not just words and once I reassured him that God knew that babies and little kids did not completely understand he was ok with it (not quiet sure how to explain the age of accountability to a 4 year old...)

Anyway - I just thought that I would share and ask you to pray for Eli's understanding. He is a great kid and understands a lot more than he is given credit for.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Well - I think that I am all settled in again. Last week we said goodbye to the green house and now are in the 'blue' house. The green house sold after being on the market for over a year w/not even an offer... We are getting pretty efficient at this moving thing and I will say that moving within the same town is so much easier than state to state!

This week has been crazy. No school and snow Monday and then so nice to day...
Monday...


Today...


We are loving being closer to Jas and his family, It is a huge blessing and a lot of fun!

Monday, November 9, 2009


I go to spend some time at the old Sabetha lake with my kidos and had a lot of fun. Here are a few of the pictures...


Friday, November 6, 2009


Brian replaced the old toilet seat that was in our rental w/a new one and I thought that the wrapper reading material was rather humorous...
Eli has always slept w/a nightlight Kiley has not but when we moved into the green house her room was extra dark (probably due to the wall to wall floor to ceiling paneling:). Anyway she started crying at night and asking for a light so they both have new nightlights and they love them - they are little portable people that you can set to either go off after 15 min of be on high or low continually. They do not get hot and both the kids sleep with them - just thought that I would pass it on for anyone else in search of a nightlight.

Monday, November 2, 2009


The kids enjoyed cleaning out a pumpkin and carving a face. We dressed up with the cousins and went uptown for a little while Friday too. Eli loves to dress up so he had fun, despite not being able to eat the treats. Kiley quickly got the hang to it and loved the bucket of junk she got.
I have totally been enjoying this weather lately, Friday was a little chilly but other than that it has been amazing!! We spent last Sunday afternoon at Grandma and Papa's. The kids still both love Pee Wee, but he is getting bigger now and not necessarily enjoying them as much. Kiley still manages to pick him up but now it takes a little effort and is usually followed by, "Whoa, heavy."



Monday, October 26, 2009

Today Eli says, "Mom one thing here is that you do not have to worry about options, the store that we went to, Papa said that it is the only grocery store here so I guess that everyone just has to choose it. So, yeah I guess that makes it easier."

Sunday, October 25, 2009

We made a quick pumpkin patch run this weekend trying to enjoy the nice weather. It ended up getting rainy and chilly but we still had fun.


Kiley with her I don't approve exactly with what was said look...

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Eli's quote of the night, "Mom this PJ shirt is a little tight, I mean it is almost thick rubber band tightness."
My kiddos have really been into dress up lately so here are few fun photos...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Well we are in our temporary house that we affectionately refer to as 'the green house' and the move in went amazingly well thanks to my parents, my brother and his in laws - they were the best helping at the last minute and getting everything in for us - Thank You So Much!

The last few weeks have been busy but things are finally slowing down a little. Our last few days in NE were full of sad goodbyes, runs to places that I will not have immediate access to, and packing. The kids are adjusting great and the house is really pretty much in order we just have to go through the garage and the extra stuff that we are storing at my parents.

I am enjoying the simple things in life...
We took a walk with the stroller and were able to go uptown and get a gift, make a trip to the library, play at the park, and stop to see cousins and I did not feel like I had run a marathon afterward.
We spent a good 1/2 hour at the library and besides about 5 min we had the children's part completely to ourselves which my children loved.
I went to the grocery store (the only one in town:) and in the pouring rain had someone take my groceries to my car and unload them so that I did not have to take the cart back inside?!

I do feel truly blessed and know that God's plans are not always our plans but they are always best!
A couple of weeks ago we had snow in NE, I was defiantly not ready for it but snapped a couple pictures of my pumpkins and gourds and of the beautiful fall tree beside the snowy branches of the evergreen.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Fall is my absolute favorite times of the year. I love all the fall colors and pumpkins. Pumpkin patches are probably one of my favorite places! Anyway, we were visiting Grandma and Papa last weekend and got to go pick some great pumpkins and gourds w/cousins and tomorrow and Friday we have school field trips to the pumpkin patch! I just hope that the weather holds out for us. Kiley also got her birthday present from the boys while there and she was so excited she got a baby doll and Uncle Jasper got her a box of Twinkies (she ate the whole thing in two bits!) she was very pleased and can now add that to her ever increasing list of treats that he has introduced her to.

We have had a busy few weeks here. We have sold our house here (#3 in the last 4 years) and are actually heading to our hometown for a month or two between jobs. We are doing a month to month rent on a little old 3 bedroom house in our tiny hometown - needless to say it will be a big adjustment for us, but one we are looking forward to for the short term and praise God that we did sell here and were able to find someone willing to do month to month renting. This coming week will be busy as we pack yet again.

I was wanting to take a few pictures around the house before we left, but only got a few of the kids outside.

We also had a first for us tonight - we all went out to eat as a family and Eli got to order off the menu. We have eaten out one other time w/my parents and grandparents but never just us at a restaurant. We went to Red Robin and they were very helpful. They have an allergies information book and you can look things up by allergies and it tells you what is ok to eat and what is not. They also put an allergy alert on your ticket and Eli's food came in a yellow basket rather than the typical red one. If eating out is a challenge for anyone you know it is worth a try.