Monday, May 19, 2014

Behind the Blogging Times

I realize that most people have long since printed books of their blogs. Well, I haven't. I finally ordered books from our blog we started back when Nate was born. One book per year. While flipping through our blog from years ago, and then getting it printed, it really made me want to put more on my blog just for that book! So here are some odds and ends of our week here at our house! 
 Anna and Audrey. They are smiling more and more and we can't get enough of it!
 Audrey and Anna
 We have a new thing going on around here. The kids each take a night to cook dinner for the family. I let them pick whatever they want to make. Problem is -so far they have picked things that require some help from mom! The idea was to help out so mom didn't have to cook dinner every night!  Oh well, I love spending time with my kids in the kitchen. Nate chose waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. He had sides of homemade sweet potato fries and eggs. He so carefully manned the waffle station.
 He was so serious about his meal and wanted it to be like a restaurant. He made this menu, took orders, served, etc. He even asked me "Where should we sit during the meal?" He didn't think  it was right for the chefs to eat with the guests. But then he changed his mind and decided we could eat with our guests. Our guests were waiting to bless the food. Nate told me in a whisper "We don't bless the food when we eat at restaurants, so we aren't going to bless the food today." It really gave me a good laugh.
 Ash had a Mother/Daughter activity at church. There was a slideshow with pictures from the moms and daughters when we were younger. Then they had a "find the most gummy bears out of the whipped cream with your mouth" game. Yuck!! I'm not a fan of the spray whipped cream and yet I'm a big fan of my daughter…who REALLY wanted her mom to participate. So I stuffed my face in the cream and dug for gummy bears. Audrey helped me. I had more cream on my face, but I had wiped most of it off before the picture.

 Ash and Sadie have decided to cook their meals together - so they get two nights. They chose BLTs. True to form, Sadie was cranking away in the kitchen while Ashlyn was carefully peeling the lettuce, cutting tomatoes and arranging the lettuce/tomatoes to look like a flower. She finds art in everything she does.

 I think the father/son campout each year is the highlight of Nate's life. He talks about it for days. He woke up at 5:37 because he was too excited for the campout to sleep. When I came out of bed he said "Mom, I already did my morning chore, the girls' morning chore, my morning routine and my copy work." He was trying to pass the time while we were sleeping. He could hardly wait to camp with his dad. They had a blast, minus the pouring rain, hail and wind all night.
 Anna and Audrey. I love Audrey's eyes and the look on her face.
 Audrey couldn't stop smiling and we couldn't stop taking pictures.
 Blanche is the best. She's a 94 year old friend at church. We've talked about having her over for a while but today we finally did it. She is the most fun 94 year old. She is so spry and such a fun dinner guest! Nate played the piano for her and here she is giving him a good job hug.
 Blanche adored the babies and wanted to hold them so badly. She was worried she wasn't strong enough so I helped her out a bit and she loved it.
 Anna and Audrey
 Christina is our favorite babysitter from Missouri. We knew her when she was 13 and she babysat all the time for us. Now she's finished her first year of college and she's staying with us for the summer!  We love having her and she's a wonderful, wonderful help!
 Today Dave said "I'm like Nate…I love these babies a lot more than I thought I would." I love how much he loves them.
 Today Ash and Sadie were making a chicken pot pie. We made three pies and they were nice to let Nate decorate one of the pie crusts. He took the job seriously.
 They each made a different design with different cut-outs on top. Sadie and her hearts.
 Nate used a cookie cutter chicken but then added an eye and wings. Perfect for a chicken pot pie!
 Sorry for the blurry picture, Ash! She made a cute flower pie.
 Blanche grew up on the farm. We love hearing her stories of being a young girl and having the job to hop on her horse and ride a while to gather the cows for her dad. Nate was showing her the different colored eggs we have.
 Cute Audrey!
Nate with his dad and his waffle dinner.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

3 Months



 Ashlyn and Sadie dressed the babies up (including wild hair pieces) and took all sorts of pictures. Cute little Anna.
 This one made me laugh. Nate was for real reading…and they set Audrey up to read by Nate. :)
 Ash and Anna
 My friend does a pre-school co-op with some friends. They wanted to go to a pet store but called and asked if they could come to our house instead. So Ash, Sadie and Nate each prepared a little lesson for the boys on the various animals we have. Here is Nate with our bearded dragon, Smaug. He did a great job teaching interesting facts about Smaug!
 Demonstrating feeding some bok choy to Smaug.
 Sadie taught about Rollo. Ash taught about Jack and they all taught about the chickens. Each boy got to  pick a couple of eggs out of the coop to take home.
 Anna and Dave
 Audrey…on Mother's Day she smiled at me about 30 times in a row and I was a happy mama!

 I started this earlier and now it's time for bed. You can guess on the rest of the pictures who's who!






Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Mother's Day Dates

Our kids always want one-on-one dates with us. So we started a new tradition this year, as alone time with each child just got a bit tougher to come by. For Mother's Day, I took each of the older kids on a Mother's Day Date. They insisted I take Anna and Audrey on dates but I will wait a couple years for that. I loved each date. I brought my special notebook and interviewed them about their favorite things and of course, a list of what their spouse might be like. It was sure fun to hear Ashlyn's wish-list for her hubby go on and on and on. I loved having alone time with no interruptions. They are already planning out their Father's Day Dates. 
 Nate chose TCBY. He hopes his wife will love all animals. And his favorite thing to do with Mom is wrestle.
 Sadie chose Cold Stone. Her hubby will be easy to get along with. Her favorite thing to do with Mom is go on dates (did I not say how much they love that time alone?)
 Ash chose Cold Stone. Her hubby will not be a picky eater so she can make weird and healthy food. Her favorite thing to do with Mom is go on dates (interesting how a few of their answers were identical).
One more tradition…they get to drive the long driveway home. Ash is tall enough to sit in the seat by herself. She did a great job. She is a super careful driver.

Lots of pictures

Life is busy and I don't find myself at the computer very often to put pictures on the blog. So here's a big handful of some cute ones over the last week. 

 Sadie put the girls on the couch like this and said they were having a little time out. They sure seemed happy for time out!
 Ash and Sadie were in a fun "Kids on Broadway" show again this year. Sadly, they borrowed costumes that they had to keep with the choir and only put on for the show…so I never got a close-up of them in their costumes. They did such a fabulous job and our cheeks hurt from smiling so big for so long when Ash and Sadie took their turns on stage. So fun.  It was almost three hours start to finish and Anna and Audrey were quiet the whole time…good little babies! Here's Anna gazing up at Dave.
 Audrey and Anna hanging out with Dad.

 Love reading to my kiddos…especially with two sleepy babies listening in, too!
 Anna

 Audrey and Anna

 Anna
 Anna and Audrey

 I thought Audrey looked so cute practicing her tummy time. At one point her toes were off the floor and she was rocking. She continues to be a few days ahead of Anna developmentally…which makes sense since she's always been a little bigger.
 Happy little girls….we can't get enough of their smiles.


 Audrey
 I was holding both babies on my lap and somehow they ended up like this…with Anna piggy-backing on Audrey.
 Ash and Sadie must have taken these because I have no memory of this photo shoot.
 Audrey
 Anna
 Had to document one of my favorite things. I have my special necklace with two silver hearts, each with Brie and Amber's names on them. I love wearing this necklace and I rarely ever take it off. Anna and Audrey will often times grab hold off this when I'm holding them or sometimes when I'm nursing. It's a little thing, but it just makes me so happy…can't quite explain it.

Anna was giving Dave a huge smiling show tonight.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

18 pounds


 Today after church I was holding Anna and Audrey as they were getting sleepy. I smiled as I realized I won't be able to hold them at the same time for much longer.They are both a little over 9 pounds so they are getting to be a heavier combination! Sadie got on and off the scale with each baby to weigh them for me.  I enjoyed watching them fall asleep in my arms.

 Audrey dozed off first. Anna was still trying to stay awake a few more minutes but she didn't last long. 

Sadie holding the babies on our special rocking horse from my wonderful friend. 

Anna giving Audrey kisses

Audrey and Anna were both in such a smiley mood! But I only got Anna smiling for a picture!