Annual Christmas Project

Skylar found what she wanted to make this year in one of my magazines. We had to go and look for the right glitter and stars. Now we are in the process of painting the trees. Well as soon as Lizzy heard we were painting she wanted to paint too. So we got some more sticks out and she got to paint, and of course there is red on her trees. Her favorite color is red and if there is a chance something can be red it will be! Here is what the project looks like so far!
We have also made a gingerbread house and also some pretzel snowman for Lizzy's snacks!

Lizzy's ideas about snow.

Chris picked her up today and was telling me that they were going to stop at the store. I wasn't sure what he thought we needed. I asked what they were getting and he replied snow. I was a tad confused. He then told me that Lizzy told him they needed to stop at the store to get snow because we did not have enough. Funny how she thinks we can buy anything at the store.

So much Has happened!

Jenna has turned one!!!
Halloween
Thanksgiving
The girls sent their letters to Santa
The girls went to see Santa
and many other things that I can't seem to remember!!

That is the update for right now!!

Special Day!

Skylar and I got to spend a special day together on Saturday! Thanks to a good friend of mine we got to go to the Michigan v IU game. At first I was bummed that I was taking my 6 year old but it turned out to be a great day and I am so glad that we got to spend that time to together. I think I have created a football fan!! She loved taking pictures and watching Mommy's team win, for most of the game! She even started to understand what was going on. Ok so as much as any 6 year old girl can catch. She even learned an IU cheer. So when everyone else was yelling GO Blue she was yelling Go Big Red!!!! She is truely my child!!! Check out our family photo site to see all the photos! Bill, thank you so much for the opportunity!!! GO IU!!!

What a weekend!!

Chris and I got to spend some time jus the two of us! It was much needed and very fun! We went to the Kenny Chesney concert in Indy and had a great time! The funny thing is how old I felt when we were there. We were sitting by some college age kids that were very much enjoying their drinks! Oh the memories of enjoying drinks. I was having flash backs and then remembering the feeling afterwards. It was one of the best concerts that I have been to and will return anytime he comes back to town, or any where close for that matter. The girls got to spend the night at Grandma and Papa's. They went to bed easier than they do when they are at home. Jenna must have liked sleeping there because she slept close to 14 hours! Today was spent cleaning and just having family time! All of that makes for a great weekend!!!
Any Kenny Chesney fans you can check out my photos from the concert. Granted they are sort of far away!

My little peanut starts school!

Lizzy started preschool today! She was so excited to go to school. I think it was because Skylar was so excited to have her come to school with us! I dropped her off and she was excited to see her teacher, whom she loves. Then, because I work at her school, I got to see her during the day. She was being so good. She was the leader today and she led the line really well. Then I got to watch them learn their new prayer for snack! It was so neat to see. I love the fact that I can check on my kids without them knowing it. When asked what she did in school today she told me that she went to Mrs. Hobbs room. She claims she had fun and that she colored everything!!!!! Check out the photo site for pictures her first day and of the backyard camping trip Chris and the girls had.

Skylar's in First Grade!

She has made it through her first full week of 1st Grade. We have done homework, ok so Grandma did homework because I had a meeting. She had her first real spelling test and memory work and did very well on both! She still has her share of breakdowns but she is growing up so fast. She can't wait until Lizzy comes to school with her! She is really liking her teacher and seems to be picking up on the routine great!

Lizzy will start after labor day in 3-year old preschool. She is so excited and will tell anyone that Mrs. Hobbs is her teacher. There will be pictures from her first day and her open house!!

Jenna is a walking machine!!!

They are all growing so fast! I feel like they will be grown and gone bfeore I know it!!!

Update!

Here is an update on Jenna and Lizzy! They both went to the doctor and checked out great!

Lizzy weighs 33 pounds and is 37 1/2 inches tall

Jenna weighs 20 pounds and is 28 1/2 inches tall

They are so very different. Jenna is a little chunker and Lizzy is our skinny minny. Jenna has taken her first steps and is climbing on everything. She is working really hard on her motor skills and is leaving the talking to her sisters at this point. Lizzy was asked to jump and she was all excited to show how she could until the doctor looked at her. Then she got all shy and wouldn't do it until I held her hand! They both had shots and did very well. If you ask Lizzy what happened at the doctor she will tell you the doctor shot her. Oh the understanding of children! Overall very good visit!! Skylar's update will come next week because she goes to the doctor on Monday!

Jenna's new trick!

It amazes me that even though Jenna is out third child the little things are still pretty cool to experience! Her newest trick is to play peek-a-boo with her shirt. She will hide her face and then pull it down. She is so proud of herself!! It is so cute to watch.

Quick update - She is crawling and trying to stand on her own. She also has three teeth - two on bottom and one on top. She would really like to walk to stay up with her older sisters!! She heads to the doctor soon for her check up and I will post all the latest info then!!

Wonderful Sunday!

What better way to spend the day than cleaning house, swimming, and spending time with family!!! I can't think of anything better! I love the feeling of accomplishment when i finally get my house cleaned and it doesn't feel like I have three girls that are blessed with toys! I also love to watch my girls in the pool. As you might remember Skylar, at the beginning of the summer, was not exactly liking the water. Now she tried just little arm floaties and was ok with them. I guess when she decides things are ok she dives into them full force!!! The perfect end to the day is eating with my parents, kids, and husband!! It is the best of both worlds; childhood - when mom cooked and adulthood - my own family!!! I love watching my girls interact with my parents!!!! I am blessed!!!! What a great start to the week!!!!

Growing Up

Hours old

So I must just be noticing al the growing up that my girls are doing or they are just doing a lot of it right now!!! Tonight I had to do some shopping and Skylar begged to go. Usually she doe sthis and then she complains that we are taking too long or she is bored or she wishes she stayed home to watch movies. Tonight was different. She wanted to know where we were going and what she could help pick out. She was so excited to be able to push the cart and help pick stuff out. It was great! I really enjoyed having her with me and getting to spend that time with her!!!! She is turning intoa little girl and not my baby anymore!! Sad but exciting!!!!

6 years old

Blessed!

After watching "My Sisters Keeper" this weekend and having a potentially harmful accident with Lizzy, I have realized how blessed I am. We may not have the most money, the biggest car, or the biggest house, but my children and family are healthy and all here. I love the life I lead and really need to start focusing on enjoying it and not worrying about what we don't have!!! Love your life!!!!!!

Each in their own time!

My three girls are so alike yet so different. The differences showed yesterday when we were at Grandma and Papa's pool. Jenna loves the pool right from the beginning and wanted to drink the water and just chilled in her float. Lizzy also loves the water but wanted to constantly be on hte move and swimming. Then there is my Skylar. As you may have read before she was in swim lessons and was pretty timid about them. Then yesterday she decided that the pool was a pretty neat place to be and she just got in and swam and really hasn't stopped yet!!! Oh the patients we will need raising three with very different personalities!!!

Photo Shoot!

We recently took the girls for new pictures. Many of you will be getting them soon!!! They all did very well. Lizzy was the most difficult becuase she wanted to gice silly faces and it ended up that we had to tickle her to get her to smile her real smile.

Skylar on the other hand needed to pose. She is a little model in the making. With no prompting she gave different looks and poses. It was very humorous.

Jenna decided that she needed to try and crawl and did not want to sit still! We got some really good pictures and some good laughs too. It was great to have a little extra help that day. Nicole, my cousin, decided to help us out by coming and keeping the girls entertained when it was not there turn to get pictures taken! Thanks Nicole!!!!

Growing Up!

VBS started today and it was the first time that Lizzy was allowed to go! My girls are growing up. She didn't even care that I was gone or that I was there to pick her up. I know that is a good thing that she is not afraid to be by herself but it is hard not to be needed as much anymore. I love that my kids are getting independent but it is hard too!!! I guess that is what we are raising them to do is go off into the world without us and be ok but I am thinking that it is all coming too quickly for me!!!!

Swim Lessons & Drive In Movie

Skylar has started swim lessons! She is still very timid with the water. She has been in a pool since she was a baby but still won't put her face in the water! We bought her goggles hoping that would help ans now she claims she can't even blow bubbles in the water. Who knew that I would have a child that is so timid in the water! Hopefully she gets more comfortable soon!!!!

We also recently went to the drive in movie in Auburn!! It is a great time. We went with Kace, Travis and Ellie! The girls all had a lot of fun!!!

Just Checking

I am thinking about really making an effort to post to this at least twce a week with pics and news and thoughts but I just want to make sure that people are actually reading it and not just me thinking there are. If this is something that you check some what often send me either a comment here or a quick email to let me know you do read it!!!! Thanks!!!

Day two at home with the girls

We made it through day two of all of us being home. Yesterday it rained all day and they did really well with playing inside together and Jenna slept almost all afternoon so I got a lot of cleaning done! Woke up this morning and it was beautiful but the ground was so wet that I decided to take them to the zoo! I guess many others had the same idea because it was very busy! THe girls enjoyed it and it was a great day!!!

7 months

Jenna is now 7 months old, well ok she will be on Friday! She has developed her own personality! She is very different than the other girls. She is much more independent than the other two were at this age. At night she lays down to bed and talks for a little bit and then she falls asleep bye herself. Then if she wakes up at night she gets herself back to sleep! It is so strange to have a child do this. My other two would love for me to rock them to sleep even now! Jenna has two teeth and loves to smile. From the pictures you would never be able to tell because as soon as the camera clicks her smile goes away! Check out the picture on the side because that is one of the few that we have of her smiling! She is our happy baby!!

Easter Comment

Ok so this is late in coming but here it goes. Skylar and I were talking about the bunny going to Grandma's house and ours. She decided that the reason the bunny came to both houses was because he only goes to those house that the people believe in Jesus. She was amazed that the bunny knew to change the ribbon on her cross from black to white for Jesus coming out of hte grave! This just cements our decision to send her to a lutheran school!

Big Week

We have had a big week so far!! Jenna learned to roll over and Lizzy is in the middle of potty training. Fun spring break for me!!! I love to clean up pee@!! She is trying and starting to get the hang of it but still not all hte way there! The goal is to be done by the end of the week. One less in diapers would be nice!!! Jenna is also eating cereal and baby food. She loves sweet potatoes and squash. Green beans are alright. She is really liking food. She is not so into the bottle anymore. She must be growing because she is always hungry. Here are a few pics and make sure to check out the album soon!

Good Morning Laugh

This morning the girls were listening to a new CD of toddler music. I looked back and they were both dancing!!! Well ok whatever their definition of dancing is. It made me laugh and think about how nice it is to not worry about what others think of you! Oh to be a child!

Long Time

It has been a while since I posted anything! Things get crazy here with three kids. Since the last post the girls have been to Disney on Ice and Jenna has been to the doctor again.

Update on Jenna: 15 lbs 12 oz and 25 inches, She had an ear infection so she is on medicine and things are going better with that! Hard to believe she is four months old! Jenna also has a love for sports. She will sit and watch just about any sport on TV. She loves to watch NASCAR, as seen below.

Disney on Ice was wonderful. Grandma and Papa took all the girls and they loved it. Skylar was so ecited and Lizzy just stared at them the whole time. It was great.

Kacee got married and Skylar was the flower girl. She did very well!!!!

Skylar has found a new love and that is taking pictures! We have given her an old digital camera of ours and she loves to carry it around and take pictures. She is actually pretty good for a 5 year old. I will post some of her pictures soon. Here is one that she took though.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Support Our Troops!

Here is the thought for the day!~ There are so many men and women fighting to make sure that we are all free and that others are able to experience the freedoms that we take for granted. Do your part to support the troops. I have heard from one member of the military that candy is always good to send. Any piece of mail that they can get that supports them I know is something they enjoy. Think about how good it feels to receive mail at home, and then think about not having family around and that being your tie to the "normal" world!!! i know that I would love to receive mail. If you don't know anyone personally that is in the military and stationed overseas let me know I have a good friend that is. Also you can ask around, with the number of men and women stationed overseas there is bound to be someone around you that knows someone!! Support them in the very least in your prayers. Pray that they all return safely to their families very soon!!!!!

3 months

Jenna is now three months old! It is crazy to think how fast she has grown. She is smiling and laughing. For the most part she a very healthy and happy baby. She is strong. She likes to look at everyone and know what is going on in the room. She follows voices and people as they walk around the room. She is not a big fan of tummy time but does very well when she is forced to do it. She loves to lay under her toy and talk to the baby in the mirror. She is starting to change in looks also. No longer the look of an infant! She is growing and that makes me happy and sad at the same time!!

Focus

As we cleaned yesterday I found a pair of sunglasses that were Skylar's. She was so excited that I found them. She has not taken them off since. This morning as we were getting out of the dark car I told her she was not allowed to wear them into school and would have to leave them with me for the day. She told me that she couldn't because she needed them in class today. Her words, "I need them so when I am not focused I can focus. Mommy they help me focus. I need them." Oh if all it took was a pair of sunglasses to focus kids at school I would buy every pair I could find.

These are the focus glasses!!

Get Involved!?

I find myself with time to spare, or at least time that I can't seem to find anything useful to do with. I started to think about what I wantee to do with that time. I can come up with a list of things I need to do: clean the house, laundry, grade papers, etc. Those are not htings that I want to do though. So I have been thinking about the things that I like to do and wondering if I can use those things to volunteer or at least find a hobby. Our pastor just talked about how it is our responsibility to use the gifts that God gave each of us to volunteer for others. It is hard to work at a job that uses the gifts God gave you and then use them to volunteer also. That is where I struggle!!!

Be Inspired

What inspires you? I have been thing about this a lot lately. What am I inspired to do and be? Where do I get my inspiration from? Lately some inspiration has been found through a friend that I have not talked to in a long time. She inspires me to really look at how I want to live my life. Should I be more thoughtful on how I affect the earth? Should I be spending more time with my family? I am so greatful for this friend! She has changed my life and was just what I needed. I am working on making a difference on those that are around me through my actions. I want to be that teacher that the kids remmeber not becuase I let them do whatever they wanted but because I am the one that taught them they could be whatever they wanted to be as long as they worked hard. I am hopeing that my life will change becuase of the contact that I have with this person now. A few of the things that I am working on changing: the constant need to check my phone, being happy with my life the way that it is, and being hte best teacher that I can be. I write this not becuase I want everyone to think that I am some new person but because by putting it on "paper" and allowing others to see it will motivate me to really stay focused on the things that I would like to change. Find what inspires you and change your life or the life of those around you!

Baptism

Oh, how blessed we are that we can baptize our child! Jenna was baptized on Sunday. She was grenched with water and all she did was roll her bottom lip. I thought she was going to let loose bt she didn't. She then was a very happy child!! Smiles and giggles is what we got almost all day. Jenna is lucky to have her Aunt Kacee and Travis as her godparents!!

Jenna update

Jenna went to the doctor on Wednesday and she is doing very well! She is a very happy baby. She had three shots and was a very big girl and cried with the best of them. She is weighing in at 14 pounds and 6 oz. She has a little round face and a very big smile! She brings such joy into our house and her sisters and parents love her.