1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? both

2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial -I'm deathly allergic to the real thing

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after thanksgiving, but the last two years we've done it the weekend before thanksgiving

4. Do you like eggnog? Blah, no. Of course I haven't tried in in a looooong time

5. Favorite gift received as a child? barbies, dolls, and anything that went with them

6. Hardest person to buy for? my brother's in law

7. Easiest person to buy for? My boys!

8. Do you have a nativity scene? yes

39. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't believe I've ever received a bad gift.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation

12. When do you start shopping? October

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? don't think so

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? all the sweets, 'cause calories don't count on Christmas!

15. Lights on the tree? white

16. Favorite Christmas song? baby it's cold outside

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? we stay home Christmas morning, then we go to my parent's for the evening

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? nope, I can't even keep my 3 kids' names straight!

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? upstairs tree is a star, downstairs is a bow

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? we have Chris' family Christmas on Christmas eve, so they get to open a bunch then, and this year I bought them pj's that they will open on Christmas eve

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? My husband... seriously, he really doesn't like Christmas

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Never really had a theme or color. our upstairs tree is full of the family ornaments, one's we've gotten over the years, and that the boys have made. Downstairs is just starting out, and it only has big round white lights and silver strings.

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? The dessert!


I tag Wendy, Tressie, and Mindy!

Shake Your Booty

I walked into my room yesterday to see Chase getting his groove on to the Imagination Movers cartoon on the TV. So I ran and got my camera...

Mom. I already know everything. You don't have to tell me anything...

A Quote from my all knowing 5 year old.

The other day we were all sitting in their room at bed time getting them ready for bed, and I was letting the boys know what the plans were for the next day.

Then Gavin just looks at me as if he's insulted to his core, that I would be so ignorant to think that he needed me to tell him what was going to be happening. And he proceeds to say, "mom. I already know everything, you don't have to tell me anything."

To which I reply, okay if you're so smart and already know everything, what is 6 + 6. Thinking that for sure he wouldn't know that yet.

He thinks for a minute, and them thinks a bit longer, then all of the sudden pipes up and says "mom, it's 12!"

Needless to say i was shocked. And I definitely wasn't really sure what to say, so I just told him he was right, and he did a good job (to which of course he replied "I know", so humble....gets that from his father).

I've also come to the conclusion that daddy's going to have to be the one to help him with his homework in the first grade!

Elf yourself

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Elf Yourself

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our crazy world

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our crazy world

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Trick or Treat!

Boy was our halloween busy this year!

With Gavin and Dylan both being in school things were a little crazy. We had to make treats for Gavin's class, and I ran the games for Dylan's fall festival.

In the end I'm glad I helped out, but it was pretty tiring, and I felt like I was running all day Thursday!

Friday we didn't do much durring the day because I babysat, but we did have pumpkin shaped grilled cheese for lunch! Which all the kids ate a ton of! Why is it that when a sandwich is in a different shape they will eat more than a grown man could eat?

After all the kiddos got picked up we headed out to get started on filling up our pumpkin buckets!

Gavin was a Dinosaur:

Dylan was a Dragon:

And Chase was a Monkey

(which got mistaken for a mouse several times... even by his own father!)

Our first stop was Anita and Brian's house.
Where we met the Fairies.

We hung around there for a bit and tried to get some good family picture... what were we thinking!

Anita and Brian's turned out pretty good I think.

This one wasn't so bad. Gavin blinked, but it's still pretty decent.

But we had to try again...

Gavin was making sure he didn't blink again!

Then it was off to hit the houses. We got a ton of candy again this year! So this will be a no diet zone for quite some time... if you come over you must eat some candy-it's required!

It was the picture perfect trick-or-treating weather. Really, we couldn't have asked for a better night.

VOTE FOR CHASE!!!

I entered Chase into a "Cutest Baby Contest"!

Here's the link.

Please Vote!

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index_d.aspx?referid=WlcmKobe&p=832390&x=.JPG

If I get 50 votes I get a 25.00 Visa gift card too... and y'all know that's going towards Christmas presents!

How's that for a bribe! lol

Gavin and Chase's Birthday Pictures... and some creepy crawlies, just in time for halloween!

Geesh! You'd think by now I would have gotten then hang of this blog thing and be able to keep up with it! To bad you can't just blink and put life on pause for a second just to be able to stop and breathe for a few little seconds.

Two weeks ago we had Gavin and Chase's birthday party! It was so much fun, and we had a great turn out of people who really love and care about our kids. Dylan even got a few unexpected gifts!

Here's a few pics from the party.

And now for the creepy part...

last Friday I get an email from the children's ministry director letting us know that a child in the preschool SS class (a class I have been helping out with this month, and the boys go to) had head lice!

My immediate reaction was....

lice?! I don't want to deal with that...

I don't think we have it, my head doesn't itch...

well, there's and itch... have I been itchy?

maybe I have...

"BOYS!!! Come here and let me check your heads!"

Okay, I don't think I saw anything there.

Wait a minute... what do they even look like.

Guess I'll look it up....

(searching on the Internet) EWWWW!!!

Now I'm really itchy...

maybe I have it, or maybe it's just from reading about it.

I guess I'd better call mom and see if she'll come over and check me out.

And I did just that. I called my mommy, and she came over that evening to check my head for these wonderful creatures. Thank goodness she didn't find anything. And I really wasn't that itchy. A friend I babysit for, who is a nurse also reassured me that I would know by now if I had it. It would feel like my scalp was crawling (another shiver up my spine, ewww!). So I figured we had escaped it, and went to bed, got up the next morning and traveled to the KU game with the family. Everything was going great (except that KU got smashed!) and my head really was fine, not to many itchy-scratchies unless I was thinking too much about it. But when we got home that evening, for some reason just couldn't get the thought of these darn little bugs crawling around on all our stuff out of my head! So I went to Walgreens spent 14.00 to get a lice kit that had shampoo, de-nitter (the eggs) and the stuff to spray on mattresses and things you can't wash.

I went kinda nuts... washed my hair, the boys' hair and even made Chris use it on his head! Then I stripped all the beds, took all the stuffed animals that had been played with and taken into the boys' beds within the last few days, towels, pillows, and clothes and started washing them in the hottest water possible! I even disinfected and boiled my hair combs, brushes and ties! I just couldn't stand the thought of the possibility... so I took care of it. You should have seen the pile in the laundry room! It was HUGE! I should have taken a picture, but I was in de-bugging mode.

And all of this just because of the possibility! You can never be to careful, and I would not have been able to sleep if I hadn't done all that.

So now I think we're officially a BUG FREE zone... well for lice that is... spiders and other creepy crawlies are a whole other story...

Great Photo Printing Site!

I'm always on the look out for good, but inexpensive photo printing sites to print my digital photos from.

I got word of this one from a mom's board that I visit regularly, and it seems like a really awesome deal! The lady that posted it said that the quality is really good, and you get all of this when you sign up!

*400 free prints (200 4x6 and 200 5x7)*

*free photo calendar

*free 8x8 in photo book (20 pages)*

*2 decks of playing cards*

*5 8x10*

*10 sheets of 4 wallets*

*2 12x18*

and a whole TON of other credits.

All you pay is shipping.

Plus, for every 10 dollars you spend (including shipping), you earn more credits.

You also earn credits for referring people.

Here's is my referral Link:

http://www.artscow.com/default.aspx?Ref=451419

I will put this link in my Favorite Site list too in case you need it again :)

We found out a couple weeks ago that Chris' Aunt Pam has breast cancer. Last Thursday she had surgery to remove the cancer. I do not know if she is going to have to do chemo or radiation yet.

Tara (my Sister-in-law) said that they saw her two days ago and she was looking really good. So I hope that means she's feeling good too.

I'm no taking this opportunity to remind all you ladies that October is Breast Cancer awareness Month!

And give a shout-out to my Grandma who is a survivor of this horrible cancer.

Love ya G-ma!!!

Finally, a Video of Chase Walking!!

The craziness that is my house...

Listen up MEN!!!

To turn of the music on my page so you can listen to the video, go to the bottom of my page and on the playlist click on the pause button :)

This guy is hillarious. If you ever have any extra time go to You Tube and watch his other videos!

Tim Hawkins.

First Day of School

Today was the boys' first day of school.

Yes, you read that right! Both boys are going to school this year!

They are both in Pre-school, and I really didn't know whether to cry when I dropped them off or jump for joy!
It was so quiet just having Chase at home today, but I really enjoyed being able to spend time with just him and not have someone jumping on my back when I sat on the floor to play with him!

Here is Dylan before leaving the house. He had to have "cool spiky hair" the first day of school.

I swear those boys are going to be fighting worse than girls over the mirror when they're teens!

The sun was kinda in their faces too, so the picture isn't the greatest. I took about 5 per kid, and this is all we could come up with. But it'll do :)

This is one of his teachers Mrs. Dalke. She is very sweet, and very soft spoken. I kind of wonder how things go in her class with all these 3 year olds running a muck!

This is Dylan's other teacher, but for the life of me I cannot remember her name! (It must be the old age, and if it's not that it's the 3 kids, or the hair color.. pick the excuse that works for you and I'll take it!)

She is extremely sweet as well, but I think she may be the one who keeps the order in the class room.

Here's Gav! And no, he wasn't "trying" to smile.. ugh! Oh well, gotta love the kid any way. lol

He's an old Pro at this Pre school stuff ya know, so he wasn't to impressed by having to get his picture taken for his first day back this year.

This is Gavin's teacher Mrs. Daigle. She might look familiar. If so you're not crazy, well, you might be, but that's beside the point. It could also be because this is the same teacher he had last year!

I was planning on sending Gavin 3 days a week this year, and when she found that out, she asked me if I would re-think it and send him on Tuesday/Thursdays. She said she would really like to have him in her class again.

And it did end up working out better, so then I only have to run kids up to the school on those two days instead of 5 days a week!

Here are a few of the boys together before going to school.

No, I wasn't frisking them! I asked if they would turn around and show me their back packs and this is what I got!

I still can not believe that they are both in school! I'm probably going to be a mess when Chase goes into preschool...

A Sad Day

It's taken me a week to post about this, and yet I'm still trying to fight back the tears.

I belong to a message board that is made up of mothers, who share their money saving tips, as well as the day to day struggles of parenting.

There is one mother in particular (Rene) who has touched all of our lives with the story of her family and their day to day joys and struggles of raising a child with congenital heart defects.

I loved hearing the stories of Tommy, and her updates of him reaching his milestones. I loved rejoicing with her when he finally was able to breathe without his trachea, and was able to "speak" and laugh for the first time since being born.

Sadly though on August 20th 2008 little Tommy lost his battle with his disease. You can read more about the details on her blog http://www.sectorsgirl.blogspot.com/ because I will not be able to write it out without crying.

Tommy's favorite movie was Finding Nemo and he loved bubbles so I've added this

to my blog in his memory.

Tommy has no idea how many lives he's touched, and how grateful we all are that God saw it fit to lend His little angel to this family so we could all be blessed by his life.

Rest in Peace Tommy!

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Time Is Just Flying By

It seems like I don't have as much time to be able to sit and update this blog as much as I would like. So here's a brief summary of what we've been doing these last few weeks.

The boys got to spend some time with Nana and Pa-Pa two weekends ago and spend the night at their house. They were more than thrilled with that!

Chris and I had a bachelor/bachelorete party to go to. It was fun, but not something I want to do again for quite some time. Never having partied like that when I was younger I sure didn't realize how much it takes out of you!

Last Thursday we went shoe shopping with Grandma Alana to get new school shoes! Gavin was so funny, because for some reason, he had to have Sketchers... I didn't even know he knew brands of shoes! But obviously my children watch way to much TV!

Chris asked him why sketchers were cool, and he replied "because I wear them"... like duh! Guess we should've known that. Anyway, I think his shoes are ugly, but he likes them so I guess it doesn't really matter. Most of the shoes there were ugly anyway.

Dylan got a pair of red and white Nike's and they are not as ugly as Gavin's! The only up-side to Gavin's shoe choice is that they have those Z-straps, and no ties, so he can get his own shoes on!!! Yippeee!

Then last weekend Chris and I got the chance to go the Eldorado lake with Kevin and Tara (Chris' brother and his wife), and our friends Hai and Heather.

It was a lot of fun! Although I, being the clumsy one, getting off the boat the first time about 1 and a 1/2 hours after being there ripped my swim suit bottoms. They got caught on the hook that you tie the anchor rope to, and that was the end of those! Thankfully Heather had another swim suit with her that she let me borrow for the rest of the time.

Then Monday Gavin had his first Dentist appointment! He did a really great job, wasn't scared at all. The assistant he had was really kind, and did an awesome job of introducing him to her "friends" (all the tools) and letting him know what they were going to help her do. I've never seen a kid so excited about getting a new tooth brush, toothpaste, and dental floss in my entire life! Dylan got one too for watching and so did Chase!

Everything turned out okay with his teeth. We're going to have to start watching what he's eating and get rid of the sugary stuff! But the dentist wasn't too concerned, just wants us to keep an eye on it.

Chris is doing good, he's working hard, and long right now since the weather was so awful last week. But thankfully it's been a bit cooler these last two days. I don't know how he does it, working outside in 100*+ weather. But he does, and for that I am thankful :)

I am still babysitting a million kids! lol School starts next week for Nic though, so that's one less during the day, and then school for Gavin, Dylan, Isabelle, Gabe and Jordan starts in September. That means during the day on Tuesday and Thursdays I'll only have my sister's three and Chase. Boy. that'll be a change!

Anywhoo, that's what's been shakin' around these here parts.

Until next time...

Pictures From Our Vacation

This year for our family vacation we went to Kansas City for 4 days. It was really good to get away for a bit, and not have to clean or cook!

We left on a Sunday afternoon, and got back on the following Thursday afternoon.

We didn't do a whole lot, but we did as much as we could with 3 young boys.

Monday we went to the Kansas City Zoo. I wasn't that impressed with it, I think our Zoo here in Wichita is much better, and there's no doubt that the layout of our zoo is better. But all in all the KC Zoo did have some different animals and things that were neat to see.

After the zoo we went to eat at the Rain Forest Cafe. It's definitely a place you go to enjoy the atmosphere and not the food (or the prices!). At first the boys were a bit leary of the animals, but then once they realized they weren't real they relaxed a bit.

Tuesday we went to Mc Donalds for breakfast and saw that Ronald was coming to do a little magic show. So we ate our breakfast, went back to the hotel swam for a bit and then went back to Mc Donalds to see Ronald. The boys got an autograph picture, a coloring page, and some tatoos that they proudly wore the next day.

That evening we went to a Royals game and the boys got a certificate for it being their first time at a game. Although the older two had been once before we still got them one, because no one told us about them the last time. They did excellent durring the game, I was surprised how well they did, especially because the game ended up going for 13 innings, and lasted 4 and a half hours! It was also sprinkling almost the entire game, but no one complained.

Gavin had taken his glove hoping to catch a ball, and a few got really close, but we didn't end up getting one this time. Hopefully next time we can get one.

Wednesday we took the boys to see the movie Wall-E, and went shopping.

And then we slept in and headed home on Thursday!

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I kept forgeting about my camera! Oh well, here are the few that I did get.

Oooooh My Aching Back!

Last night was a heck of a night with the boys. They fought us going to bed, Chase woke up at 3 to eat which woke Dylan up because he wasn't sleeping good. Then at 5 Gavin woke up crying because his toe hurt and he needed ice for it.
That discussion woke Dylan up who then wanted to sleep in our bed, and I told him he needed to sleep in his bed and to lay down and go to sleep. His response to that was jumping out of bed deliberately disobeying and glaring at me while he did it. I told him that just because it was early in the morning didn't mean he wasn't going to be disciplined.

Of course all this commotion woke up the baby, and so I took him and rocked him back to sleep. Well 20 minutes later Dylan comes prancing into our room. I'm exhausted so I gave in (I know bad parenting!) and he slept with us, but his leaving the room woke chase up again and he was ready to play! So I brought him into our room too, so I could nurse him and sleep at the same time.

Needless to say the sleeping arrangements weren't comfortable.

This morning I woke up and rolled chase off my arm and twisted to get up out of bed and I felt a sharp jabbing pain in my upper back by my left shoulder blade. It took me a minute and I stood up, and I felt sick and like I was going to faint. Then I started shaking uncontrollably, and my back was spasming. It was the weirdest feeling in the world and I had no clue what I had done.

I called my mom who was on her way to work, and she turned around and headed toward my house. She called Brian (my brother-in-law) who waited with me until she got there.

Thankfully the boys slept through it! I was praying so hard they wouldn't wake up, especially chase, because I wouldn't have been able to pick him up.

After my mom got there, Brian took me to the chiropractor. He did some electrical stimulation and then adjusted me. He told me that I had "drunken palsy". Which he explained to me by saying "Imagine a bunch of college guys going out and getting waisted, coming home and passing out in whatever position they landed in. Usually in the sitting or more upright positions (like a recliner and basically goes into little knots. Sort of like a charlie horse in your back." So now I have to take it easy, and ice it all day. I have another appointment tomorrow with him, and we'll see how it is.

It feels a bit better, but my head is starting to ache now and I'm afraid it's going to turn into a migraine. So if I could ask for prayers in that department it would be really helpful!

What a week to do it in too! Chris is working in Newton this week and they have a deadline to be done by so it's going to be from sun up to well after sun down that he'll be gone. So taking it easy wasn't really in the plans. My house is already a mess and it's only the first day! I'm praying it feels a lot better tomorrow and I can do more!

He's Mobile!

And he's getting into things already!

It didn't take him long after he'd realized that he was moving to head straight toward the cat's food, and then to the lamp cord!

For just learning a few days ago he's moving pretty fast! It amazes me how fast they pick things up.

(it's shakey, because Dylan was crawling on me, sorry!)

So this one is more up my alley...

It's the Nikon D60 (I'm looking at the D80 too, but it basically looks the same)

It's not as high-tech the D300, but since I am just learning I've heard this is a good camera to start with, aaaaaand, it's a whole lot less expensive.

Which means I'll be able to get it sooner!!!

Not that it will be soon, just sooner than next summer. Yay!!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

I can't believe you're already 3 years old!

It seems like just yesterday I was bringing you home from the birth house, and staring at your 10 tiny toes, and 10 tiny fingers. In awe of being able to be blessed with another baby, and of God's handy work in creating such a beautiful baby boy.

Although at 3 you're still a miracle, it's harder to overlook the whiny attitude, and mischievous ways to see it all. But it's nice to take a step back every once in a while and see how silly and goofy you can be. You love being the center of attention, and you will do anything to get a laugh out of someone. I love how you still climb up in my lap to read books, and sing songs. You are definitely one of a kind, and I wouldn't trade you for the world, even though some days it's pretty tempting!

So Happy Birthday to my Little Pickle.

Mommy loves you!!

Happy Birthday to my Mom and Granny too!

Dylan was lucky enough to be born on their birthdays :)

My First Adventure in Cake Making

And what an adventure it was!

It was for Anita's sister-in-law Tiffany, who got married this last Saturday (the 7th).

It took a few trips to Michaels (which is never a bad thing, unless it's at 8:00 the night before the wedding and 3 hours before the cake is supposed to be there!!), a few trips to Wal*Mart, a bunch of cake mix, powdered sugar, and butter, and a very messy kitchen for a couple of days.

Thankfully it all worked out and they were happy with the end result. Plus I got some experience under my belt for the next one. That is if my husband can withstand me working on another one. He about went crazy with the messy kitchen and the piled up laundry. He was very helpful in taking care of the boys while I worked on them.

Here are the pictures of the end result.

They put flowers on the top and in the middle of this after it got to the site, but I forgot to get my camera out and take a picture of it.

Groom's Cake:

Gavin's Preschool Graduation

It took a while for the videos to load, but here they are finally!

Busy, busy, busy

So I've been pretty bad about keeping this thing updated. We've been super busy around here. This last weekend we had a garage sale that Anita and my mom both helped out with. And poor Brian was recruited to help too because of his being off work due to surgery. He couldn't do a lot, but it sure helped having him here to price stuff and keep a watchful eye on all the kiddos.

Chase is getting big, he's now 7 months old! He's now sitting up on his own, eating baby food, and trying to crawl. Yesterday he was trying to pull himself up while holding onto my leg. I'm so not ready for him to be mobile yet! I have a feeling he's going to be my wiry-into everything-can't keep me in one spot even if you chained me-kid. Something I am so not ready for! But I guess the upside to that is I'll get my exercise!

Dylan is still my big helper and loves the babies (Chase and my sister's baby Addison), even though most the time they would rather be left alone than bombarded with hugs from him. He's loving the summer weather and being able to play outside. Oh yes, I can't forget the most important update on him... he can now (drum roll please) stand up to go potty!!! Yay! He actually grew a tiny bit over the winter, which is surprising, but he's still wearing most the clothes he wore last summer. We're hoping he grows a bit taller over the summer too. The poor kid is a little vertically challenged.

Gavin "graduated" from Preschool. But not really. He's actually going back in the fall because his birthday being in October he misses the cut off. But he is happy that he gets to go back and see Mrs. Daigle again. He's still trying to convince me that school is not over and that when it's Tuesday he still has to go to school! I explained it all to him, but he's still adamant that he's missing it. Ah, the days of loving to go to school! I'll be sure and remind him of this when he's fighting and crying because he doesn't want to go in a few years.

Well, for me the summer is going to be pretty full. I am going to be watching 10 kids, so that should be interesting! I'll have my three (of course), my neighbor's two Isabelle and Gabe, twice a week, Jordan and Nick, 2-4 times a week, and Anita's three a few times a week. Most of the days they all be here at once, but I'm sure there will be a few times that will happen this summer. So if you think I'm bad about updating this blog now, just wait! lol

I'll have a nice break in the fall though, because I'm pretty sure most of them will be going to preschool/school on most of the days. So I won't be busy until after 3 those days.

Things for Chris are busy, busy too. Right now is the busy time for the irrigation business. He's not been working to extremely late though which is nice. He normally gets home about 7 or a little after, but he's up and at work by 6:30am so he's still working 12 hour days. He's also playing softball again this year. His games are on Mondays and Wednesdays and I think they might have a pretty good team this year, and win some games :)

So that's the scoop on what's been going on over in our neck of the woods the past few weeks. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything that's really important. I guess if I'd actually update it when things happen I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting anything! Oh well, such is life with a billion and one kids... lol

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful mother's day. We got up and got ready for church and the boys brought in a card for me that had a gift card for 150 minutes of tanning! So now I won't shine like a light bulb when I wear my shorts. lol

After church we went over to Curtis and Shara's house to eat lunch and celebrate Kevin and Bradon's birthdays as well as mother's day. Then we went home and I got to take almost an hour long nap!

After naps we went over to see my mom and give her her gift. Then we went to Marble slab and had ice cream with our life group.

All in all it was a great day.

Unkel Look-alike Meter

I stole this from Mel's blog because I thought it was really neat :)

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family pictures - Free genealogy websites

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Ancestors - Black and white photographs

Hmmm. I always thought Gavin looked more like his daddy!