Loves of Our Lives

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

2009-10-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

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My little trophy winner...

2009-09-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

First I have to say I'm sorry for my lack of blogging lately...definitely something I will be doing more now that I'm finally feeling well again! :-) This past weekend, my best friend Jenifer and I decided to take a little trip back to our hometown of Jasper for the yearly Appreciation Days Festival. We both decided that we would enter the kids in the baby contest. By kids I mean her youngest, Ruby, and of course...Nicholas. This was the first time I've ever entered any of the boys in a baby show and I'm glad that Jen talked me into going too! Ruby won 2nd place in her division and Nicholas won 1st place in his division!! yay!!! He got a little trophy and everything (which he immediately decided looked tasty enough to eat :-) We even ran for the "grand prize" winner but didn't walk away with that prize. That's okay though...I know my baby boy is the cutest in the area.....okay, so i'm a little biased but he is pretty darn cute! Here are a few pictures from our morning. We had so much fun that I think we'll end up going back next year and giving it a try again!
Jen waiting for the festivities to start
Ruby was such a good girl that day...she basically just wanted to sleep....
Nicholas was fascinated with Ruby...good thing since they're betrothed!! lol
Jen & Ruby take their turn on the stage...that is my cousin Kayla on the right with her new baby girl who was only 17 days old!
Nicholas and I patiently waiting our turn
Nicky just wanted to look around at all the other babies
Grand prize voting.....there were some cuties up there that day!!
Nicholas and his trophy....
he really thought it was a tasty snack :-)

Bear with me...this is a long one!

2009-09-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

I'm finally playing catchup on my blogging so bear with me! Ian started 2nd grade this year at a new school and so far..he is LOVING it! Thank goodness! But then again, Ian has always liked school and has opted to attend summer school every year since kindergarten too. He loves to learn and is such a little artist! One of these days I'm going to replace my scanner and I'll have to share some of his artwork with you all. He just made a 5 ft long picture of a dragon that he hung out in his Daddy's "gym". It's quite a work of art I must say! I'm also posted some of the pictures that Ian has been taking with my camera. I never really know what I'm going to find when I upload pictures from my camera!
Trevor also started school this year! He had been attending a preschool for 2 mornings a week at a local church, but was accepted into the school district's Pre-K program for this year. Yay!! This was his first full week (I say full, but really he is still only going 2 mornings every week) and so far...so good! As many of you know, Trevor is my little wild child and you just never can tell what he is going to do...or say...next. He constantly keeps me guessing! But so far he is loving it and he tends to get a little upset with me on days that he doesn't get to go. He has been singing songs to me and is very proud of his work that he has been bringing home. He got to take his first item to show and tell this week and I bet you could guess what it was in one try....a car! That boy carries cars around with him all the time! I bet next week when it's supposed to be a yellow item he'll take his new yellow race car!

He was up before anyone else that morning because he was so excited!
He kept saying "come one Mom...we're gonna miss it!"
Trev was so proud of his name tag...he wouldn't let go of it and held it in front of himself like this for most of the time!

He was being so good standing in line! I was so proud of him and he wasn't the least bit bothered that I had to leave him there! *whew* He's getting to be such a little man!
He was trying to get the little guys in front of him to follow the rest of the line :-)
Ian is always happy to go to school!
this is an Ian pic...hi Nicky!
I have about 50 different shots like these to choose from :-) He went a little camera happy!

What a handsome face he's got! Reminds me of his Daddy ;-)
He was so excited to start school this year!
Had to get a shot of him in front of his new school! He's growing up so fast!

I've been bad.......

2009-09-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

I admit it....I'm a bad blogger these days. In my defense, I must say that I have been extremely busy here lately between school runs, family time, and of course...cake making! I am going to my very first cake decorating class tonight and I am so ex cited! Unfortunately, I have to take a beginners class before I can move on to the advanced stuff, but you do what you gotta do! I pretty much know the basics, and some of the advanced stuff too, but still haven't tackled flower making..hence the class. Up until now I have taught myself, with the occasional questions answered by my w onderful Mother-in-law. I have been commissioned for a few wedding cakes and if I'm going to do them right...I need some instruction! So, wish me luck! It should be fun...I love learning new things! Here are some pictures of my latest creations that have kept me so busy...3 a week for the last 3 weeks! yay!!! I still need to make myself some business cards but need a name for myself I guess.....send me some suggestions! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Alvin & the Chipmunks....this is the exact picture the little girl picked out...she loved it!
This one looked way better before it gotted pulled into the floor...yes...the floor. Just as I went to grab my camera, my little stinker of a son pulled himself up high enough to grab it and yanked it into the floor. Amazingly it didn't land upside down but it did crinkle it. I had to scrape off one whole side of it and redo it....also had to fix Dora and tried to smooth out the wrinkles and cracks the best I could. (all in about 30 minutes before it was due to be picked up) They still loved it thankfully, but I wish I had gotten a picture BEFORE it got messed up...it looked so good beforehand! :-(
The baby bear I made for a Dallas Cowboys themed baby shower
I later added the baby's last name to the bear's jersey :-)
The finished product.....she LOVED it!
Jimmie Johnson's #48 race car..........I don't even follow racing but gave it a shot anyway
The little girl who got this Spongebob cake loved it so much she wanted to sleep with it! lol
Here kitty kitty...................this was made out of 3 cakes...it was a heavy sucker!
Trevor loved this one and kept Meowing at it!
The little girl who got the cat cake also wanted a flower cake...this one is actually glittery all over but it's hard to tell in the picture....she thought this was too cool :-)
Last but not least is Nicholas's 1st birthday cake....a baby panda bear! He loved taking swipes of icing off the back of it!

Wordless Wednesday starring Ian Bryant!

2009-08-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

My Baby turned 1!!

2009-08-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

My baby is 1!! I can't believe it...the last year has flown by and it just doesn't seem possible for my sweet baby boy to already be a year old. He is trying to walk now and is constantly getting into everything! I'm STILL waiting for that time to come when he decides that sleep is a good thing and goes all night long without wanting to get up a few times. He loves to watch his brothers and when they aren't being too rough (which is few and far between :-) he really likes to get some play time in with them. He is his Momma's boy and won't let me out of his sight most of the time and thankfully he is still my little cuddlebug. They grow up so fast and I know it won't be long before he wants nothing to do with being loved on, so for now I will take what I can get! We celebrated Nicholas's bday at his Auntie Alice's house on Saturday and threw my bday in the mix too. I made him a baby panda bear cake and he took numerous swipes at the back of it while we were doing candles. I was very happy to see that Ian, with the help of his Nanny, had made me a bday cake! It was sooooo sweet of him and I was glad I didn't have to make my own cake! lol (oh and by the way...I will NOT be having any more bdays...29 forever!! hahahaha) We had a great time and Nicholas has been having a blast playing with his new stuff. It's hard to see my baby grow up so fast...especially when I know he is for sure the last one I will have. He is such a blessing to us and we all love him more than words. Happy Birthday, Nicky...we love you!!!
Look at all those candles!! EEeeeeekkkk!!!
Mmmmm, icing is gooooddd!!! :-P
showing us all his walking skills
chasing us all down in his walker...he can really go quick in this thing now!
Trevor loving on the doggies
Ian wanted to play tag with GrandDad...not sure who was "it"
Oooohhh, almost got him! Way to slip the tag there Dad! lol
Oh boy...a noisemaker to drive Mommy nuts with! He loves it Auntie Alice!
Nicholas had LOTS of help opening presents
Oh boy...a train!! and it makes a LOT of noise!
still a little short in the gitup...won't be long before he's pushing it all over the place though!
what a face...he is such a happy boy

I'm coming for you Momma!!
peeking on the boys...they were hiding under this blanket and trying to watch a movie on the portable DVD...silly boys :-)
My little beater licker....he comes running when he hears the mixer!

Funny Faces for Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Trevor Walker!!

2009-08-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Trevor's 5th birthday and I have to sit and wonder...where has the time gone? It doesn't seem that that much time has gone by sinc e that lo ng n ight we spent walking the halls of the hospital 5 years ago. He was such a good baby....he hardly ever cried except for when he was hungry and he has always been my little snuggler.
He never did decide to crawl either...just rolled everywhere and then pulled himself up and started walking along stuff. He took his first steps right after his 1st birthday and he's not been able to sit still since! lol He was soooo stubborn and exasperating in his toddler years and it was about that time that everyone decided that although Trevor didn't look too much like his Daddy (he took after his Momma ;-), he was his Daddy's boy through and through. Oh what a boy he is today! He's still my snuggler, but he's definitely a rough and tumble boy. He hasn't been bruise free since he started walking and one of his favorite things to do is wrestle with Ian or Donovan. He is still just as stubborn as always, mixed with a healthy dose of ornery, and he's definitely the 1 of the 3 that tests my nervous system's boundaries. (ever heard of that "middle child" syndrome...that's my boy!) He LOVES anything that has to do with cars, trucks, or just things that move in general. That is just about all he got for his birthday this year..new cars and trucks! Boy he is loving them too...thanks everyone! He makes me smile with the things he says, the stories he tells, and by the things he does. He's also a little on the shy side which surprises most people since he's usually running around like a little wild monkey when they first see him. :-) All in all, he is such a wonderful child and I am looking forward to the things that we will experience with him as he grows into a handsome young man. We love you Trev!!

One Busy Week!!

2009-08-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

The end to one very busy week has finally come to a close. I was asked by a good friend from high school to make a birthday cake for her son's 5th birthday. I was excited.....yay another customer!! After I agreed to create these 2 cakes for her, I realized that we would also be celebrating Trevor's birthday on the very same weekend. Oh boy, was it tiring to get all those cakes done! I started on Thursday and was finally done about 30 minutes prior to the start of Trev's party. My very crabby baby boy wasn't helping me out much and the humidity was my worst enemy. Making cakes in 80%humidity just doesn't work out good. But after spending one night burning the midnight oil, I did get it all completed. Not too bad for my first attempt at a Yoda cake. I found a picture on the internet and just went for it. There are things that I would have done differently, done more of, ect....but in the end seeing that little boys face light up was worth all those long hours. Now, on to Trevor's birthday. He won't actually be 5 until the 1 1th but we went ahead and had his party since the weekend was here and everyone was off work. It was Thursday of this last week before he finally told me what kind of cake he wanted me to make him. His reply...a striped dragon/dinosaur (he couldn't quite make up his mind). So we compromised......he got the stripes but it's still a debate as to whether it's a dragon or a dinosaur. He loved it!!! He still loves it so much i have to keep chasing him out of the kitchen...little stinker keeps sneaking in for finger fulls of icing and cake! Here are some pics of my creations from this past week.....keep posted for pics on Tuesday of my big 5 year old!
Here is Yoda's body before I attached the head and the rest of him...it was made up of 7 cakes and stood about 1.5 ft tall!
This is what happens when you leave the baker up all night long with nothing but coffee to drink and this rice krispie head to talk to :-o I think it was about 3 or 4am at this point and the head came last.....

Time for cake it is!!!
Yoda all ready for the party
Yoda and the sheet cake I made for the party
Trevor's dragon/dinosaur cake...

He kept saying the candles were fire spikes!
He got them all in one big puff!

Introducing a sweet bundle of girl!

2009-07-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

As I was sitting and relaxing with my husband one wonderful evening, I got a surprise call from my very best friend, Jenifer. "My water just broke and we're headed to the hospital" she said! I kissed my sleeping baby & my hubby, threw on my sneakers and out the door I went. After a very long night and even longer morning, little Ruby Elaine Sheppard made her way into this world. She was 8lbs 13oz and 21.5in of beautiful squirming baby girl! Her big sister Shirley thinks she is absolutely the neatest thing this side of the moon and she is being such a good baby for her tired Momma. I can't wait to go smooch on her little face again and give her lots of love from her "Auntie" Pickle. Here are a few pics that I took at the hospital that day. Congrats Jen, Cory, and Shirley!! We love you all!!
Daddy had to count all those little fingers and toes while she was getting all checked out.
Such a sweet little face
Father-daughter bonding

My first time to see Ruby...I already love her to pieces!
A sweet moment between Mommy and Ruby
This little girl has got some big feet! Her little toes look like fingers...so cute!
Her first smile for the camera :-)
3 pretty girls.....love you guys!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-22T09:03:00.001-07:00

If you build it....

2009-07-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

If you build it........he WILL come.........

......and knock it all down!! lol But he will help you rebuild!! :-)

Brotherly love...isn't it great!

Happy Birthday America...just a tad late:-)

2009-07-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a little late on my 4th of July post, but things have been a little crazy around here the last few days with sick kiddos. We celebrated the 4th at Alice's house this year and it was a great day full of fun, fireworks, good food, good conversation, and great company. The weather was wonderful...not too hot (or humid, thank goodness) and nice & breezy. The boys had a great time shooting fireworks that day and Trevor actually got in on the action this year and lit his own! Of course, he still couldn't take his fingers out of his ears and by the time night time rolled around he was tired of shooting and watching fireworks. We live just a few blocks from t he golf course where they shoot the city's fireworks off and we have a great seat to watch them in...our backyard! We can see all of them and between the city and our wealthy neighbors...we get one heck of a good show on the 4th. This year however, about half way through the city's show....it started pouring down rain! What amazed us all was that the fireworks were still going off! It was so cool and undescribable really...I wish I could have video taped it! The lightning was flashing right along with them. We ended up having to finish our own fireworks off on Sunday night..but that's okay...we got several shows in on one weekend!
Surprisingly the fireworks didn't faze Nicholas one bit....he loved watching them at night!
See, he really isn't that afraid of them anymore! yay, Trevor!
Ian would do nothing but shoot off fireworks if he could...wonder if there is a job out there for him in that field once he grows up?? lol
The perfect set of earplugs...your fingers!
Made me kind of nervous how close he would get to them to light them...I had to keep reminding him to back up!
I guess Trev didn't believe me when I said smoke bombs don't make noise! Silly boy...
Nothing quite like sleeping in the porch swing...thanks Jess!
Whatcha got there, Daddy???
Ian and I had a blast shooting off our fireworks
I was trying to catch Donovan and his roman candles...looks like I got my clothesline instead!
Ian's fountain....one of them at least...he wanted me to show it off

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Joy!

2009-06-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

The night was dark...the air was thick and sticky....but that didn't stop us from celebrating Nanny's birthday Saturday night! We all gathered together at Alice's house for dinner, cake, conversation, and.....wine! haha As we usually do when we all get together, we had a great time. Levi brought his guitar and gave Ian a lesson in how to play Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". Amazingly, Ian was picking it up so quickly that I knew what he was playing with only a few notes issued! I think we have a natural on our hands folks! Nicholas was content to roam Aunt Alice's huge deck with his walker (boy does he LOVE to be mobile) and we all just settled ourselves into the patio furniture and did what we do best.....visit! It was so hot and muggy, you could see the moisture in the air and we were all sweaty messes. Uncle Brian was nice enough to haul out the big fan to help move some air around the deck since there wasn't a breeze to be found anywhere. We were doing pretty good with the fan until Levi's fly-fishing rod found it's way to the back of the fan and the line got sucked in and around the motor. Crud! After a bit of working on it (it only took 3 people to fix! haha) we finally had relief from the stuffiness again. After having cake, we all retreated to our respective homes and basked in the wonderful invention called air conditioning! lol Happy Birthday again to a wonderful Nanny, a great Mom, and a very good friend! We love you!!!
The basket of yarn cake that I made for Joy.....it turned out pretty cool I think.
Nicholas hanging out with Poppy just waiting for some cake!
Nanny gets some help from the rugrats.....
Trevor was so proud of himself for helping blow out the candles
Levi gives Ian the rundown on Deep Purple
Can you hear it?? Smoke on the Water was the flavor of the evening...Levi thought it was so cool he was trying to record it on his phone while Ian was playing!
Gotta love all that furniture sitting around on Alice's deck...we all get to kick back and be comfy like this!
The boys were having a good time playing in the yard despite the heat and humidity
Ian was trying out Levi's new flyfishing rod
Levi and Jess
Took 3 people to fix the fan....Jess is hiding on the other side!
Nanny and Bailey patiently waiting for air circulation...
I made this cake for Alice to take to the golf course Monday night for Joy and Linda's birthdays....I kind of like the purple bag!

**Two cakes in one weekend...I'm on a roll!! Anyone need cake?? :-P

Like the Spike?

2009-06-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

Check out the hair on these two....Not only do they look a lot alike, but they both have quite the spike! I'm searching for pictures of Trevor from his "baby" days...I really want to do a comparison of the two of them on here....it's uncanny how much they look alike at the age Nicholas is right now. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Awww, Trev looks so little here...I think he was about 2 at this time...my boys are growing up on me way too fast! :-(

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

One Expensive Fish......

2009-06-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Father's Day 2009 has made it's way past us and it will definitely be one to remember as we spent most of the day at the ER! Luckily it wasn't one of my boys that had to make the trip....no, it was the man of the day....their Father! Saturday evening, Donovan headed to the river with his buddy, Rick, to set his "limb" lines in hopes of catching himself another big catfish. That part went off without a hitch...they set the lines and went back yesterday morning to check it out and hit the jackpot! 2 good sized Catfish were waiting for them. Still, no problems were foreseen by us. Then it came to cleaning said fish......just after laying Nicholas down for a short nap, I started to get all our stuff together to head to Alice's house for lunch, when in runs my husband....with a blood covered hand! Come to find out, that new filet knife I got him LAST year was pretty darn sharp. As he was cleaning his fish, a slip of the knife happened, and next thing you know he's trying to cut off a finger! Normally blood doesn't bother me, I mean I've done wound care on amputees before, but I was amazed at how much was running out of him. I threw on my clothes, snatched up the sleeping baby, threw the kids in the truck, and hauled their Dad off to the ER. Come to find out he had knicked an artery in that finger. After several hours, a lot of blood loss (he was kinda pale and pretty wornout last night) , a couple of stitches, a tetanus shot & antibiotics, and one bummed out husband later...we finally made it to Alice's for one heck of a good meal. The kids finally got to give him their presents and Ian even made up a Happy Father's Day song that he serenaded his Daddy with. Then we all had some chocolate cake and called it a day. What a day it was.....and to think that he calls ME clumsy!!! (I didn't get any pics of the 2 catfish that started the whole fiasco...things just happened too quickly)....

Although this wasn't the one that landed him in the ER...he wanted me to brag about it.....17lbs of catfish!! It was a big one!
These are some seriously weird fish...a Gar....this one was 50in long!!
Ian pulled out his own tooth this weekend!! He was so proud of himself!
Trevor always thinks he should lose a tooth too when Ian does....he wanted a picture of his teeth too!
Nicholas doing what he does best...getting into everything!
Dog pile on Daddy!! My boys are the best alarm clock in the world!! There is no "snooze" button on them! haha
My first BBQ grill cake that I made for Father's Day....it's all edible!

Going Poolside...

2009-06-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago, my wonderful husband went out and bought us a "family" gift....a new pool! We have jokingly named it the "Ghetto" pool as it is one of those really easy and simple affairs of blowing up the top ring and filling it up with water. It's not huge or even that deep, but it is so nice to have something to jump into during these hots days we're having and it is absolutely perfect for the boys! They can splash and swim and play all without having to worry about not being able to touch the bottom. The first day we set it up and started filling it, t hey HAD to get it and wouldn't take "NO" for an answer. Despite the freezing temperature of the water, they hopped in and had a blast just walking across the bottom on their hands. By the time we we re able to fish them out, their teeth were chattering but they definitely thought it w as worth it. We finally got it filled after stressing out my poor well for a few days, and the boys were definitely ready to jump in for a swim....and then the rain started...and lasted for almost a solid week. Crud! Now they had to wait for the water to warm up yet again, which is so hard for a little boy to find patience for. Luckily the rain moved out and the sun started shining and my boys have turned into regular little fish. One could say we are now having a "splashingly" good time! :-)

They don't look cold, but their teeth were sure chattering!

Having a good time despite the cold water....
Uh oh...it's a shark in shallow water!! :-P

patiently waiting for the ladder to be added....they were so excited!
Ian came prepared with goggles and snorkle....Spiderman, of course!

Took Trev a minute to get all the way in..the water was still a little chilly!

Trevor likes to hang on the side and splash everyone.....
Our new pool....Ghetto style! lol

Water Baby??

2009-06-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

My last post was about our new swimming pool...This post is about Nicholas and his first time to get in the pool. My little man was all smiles and laughs until I handed him over to Dad for his first swim. Oh boy he didn't like that water at all! As soon as his little bootie hit the water...the tears started coming! He especially didn't like getting splashed by his big brothers. Since he wasn't fond of actually sitting in the water, we put him in his little boat thinking that he would start to realize what fun the pool can be.........after a minute he settled down, but the jury is still out on whether or not he enjoyed himself! I'm guessing it's going to take a while before he's used to it and enjoys it, so it's "baby steps" to the pool for Nicky!

See, he started out very happy!

Good thing Daddy has a big strong shoulder to cry on
One mad baby...this is his "get me outta here" cry..:-(
Starting to settle down...but I had to stay within reach....
Discovered his boat has eyes and boy he wanted to take a bite outta them!

**On a little side note: Nicholas finally has both top teeth now! The 2nd stubborn one finally popped through yesterday! yay!! Now maybe I'll get some sleep........

Wordless Wednesday :-)

2009-06-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

Another baby...another cake!

2009-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, my cake making business is starting to pick up!! Yay!! This past weekend I had yet another baby shower to make a cake for. Some friends of ours, Misty & Chance, are expecting a baby girl and Misty's big sister asked me to make her cake for the shower. Misty wanted it done in pink and lime green and since she has a great love for frogs...we added some cute little frogs to the top for her. It took me most of the night to finish, til' 4:30am to be exact, but it's so much easier working late when everyone is sleeping...no one to interrupt the creative process! haha It turned out better than i thought it would, I was a little anxious about the colors looking okay together but it all pulled together in the end and looked pretty good I think. She had a great shower and it was a huge success all around. Thanks Trishia and Misty for giving me the opportunity to make yet another cake!!
The proud Mommy-to-Be...she's such a sweetheart
The top..complete with fondant roses and frogs :-)
I'm soooooo glad they loved it!!
My sweet boy was content to hang out and watch the chaos around him...we had a great time!

Wordless Wednesday.....

2009-06-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

The Sun is Shining...Time to Play!!!

2009-06-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Not too much has been happening around here lately. Ian has started summer school again (he won a $5 gift card to Walmart yesterday for his good behavior!!), Trevor is still loving preschool, and Nicholas is just doing what most babies do.....getting into everything! We spent the last day before summer school playing at the park. Nicholas discovered how much he likes to slide, with big brothers' help of course, and Trevor has finally conquered his fear of heights! My once very timid boy is like a little spider monkey now, if he can crawl up it...he will! That goes for Ian too since I keep finding him in trees outside! Here are a few pictures from the park that day...most of them were taken by Ian. There's a few on here but he wanted everyone to see his "skills" with a camera....
Ian thought it was cute watching Nicholas play with his hat....

My 3 little monkeys
Look at that face....his expression says just how much he loves to swing!
Trevor wanted to slide with his baby brother too...
My little shutter-bug....he finally handed the camera over to me for a bit!

Not exactly sure what he was doing here....kinda looks like ballet to me! haha
My sweet baby boy.....he sure loves to go to the park now!

Water Fights

2009-06-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much fun you can purchase for $1 these days. Ian and I made a trip over to the wonderful Dollar Tree where everything is...yep, you guessed it...a dollar! Ian found these cool little water squirters that he just HAD to have. I couldn't argue with him since it sure was hot that day. We came home after picking Trevor up from school and they went to it...for about 2 1/2 hours! They had a blast! I, of course, ran outside with them to catch a few pictures and then back inside to safety! No one and nothing is safe with those two when they are armed with an endless supply of water!
It all started out just fine............. and then POW! Got ya when you weren't looking! haha
Ian didn't mind too much.....but that water sure was cold!
You know what they say about payback.....Ian's revenge at work!
One very wet boy...but it sure was fun getting there!
One very cold and wet Trevor...he wanted hot cocoa and it was 90 degrees outside!

All We need is the Baby.......

2009-06-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I threw a baby shower for my very best friend, Jenifer. After feeling very harried and rushed, running into a scheduling snaffu with the facility we had it at, and stressing over the details...it all turned out wondeful! She had a good turnout at her shower and received some really great gifts. We are all anxiously awaiting this new baby girl and I, for one, cannot wait to meet her! I like to tease Jen and say that she is just providing wives for my sons and she needs at least one more to seal the deal! haha In all actuality, our kids will probably all grow up feeling like cousins and not romantic interests...oh well, it's a nice thought! Here are a few of the pictures we snapped that day...check out my newest cake designed by me...it was a big hit!

We only had about 15 minutes to get everything set up and arranged....it turned out well though!
The Belly Cake...pretty cool huh?
Jen's little girl, Shirley (in yellow), and her little cousin Audrey
Doesn't she look cute!! I can't wait to meet baby Ruby!

Happy Anniversary to Us

2009-05-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Nine years ago today something wonderful happened to me...I became a wife! On May 27, 2000 Donovan and I pledged to love and honor each other til death do us part. We, like so many before us, were young and in love and looking towards our future as man and wife. We said our vows, celebrated with our friends and families, and went off to make our own way in this world. It's been a bumpy road along the way, full of ups, downs, and blind curves. At times it seems like it was just yesterday that I was a fresh-faced high school graduate who fell head over heels for the older, exciting guy.....then there are days when it feels like it all happened eons ago! I can't imagine walking through life with any other person and I thank God for putting him in my path. We started out as just us two and in a mere 9 years we have been gifted with 3 amazing sons to share our lives with. I can't wait to see what our future holds for us now..

The way we were......so young and in love :-P

May 27, 2000......ready to start our lives together!

9 years later....not so young anymore but still very much in love!

The better parts of both of us....our amazing boys!

Our family on the steps where it all started.....Easter 2009

Business as Usual.....

2009-05-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Memorial weekend! We stuck close to home this year but had a good time doing it! Donovan and the kids got some fishing time in, I actually got to spend a girls day out with Alice and Joy, and we had another fantastic meal at Alice's on Sunday....(Way to go on the ribs Uncle Brian!! :-) Now it's back to business as usual for us....another busy week! School will be out in 2 more days, tomorrow is our Anniversary, Nicholas is about to get 2 more teeth (which I hope will happen tomorrow..I need sleep!), Ian is about to lose another tooth, and I'm throwing a baby shower for my best friend on Saturday! No wonder time seems to fly by so quickly these days. In the midst of it all, I'm just really hoping for some much needed shuteye. I leave you with a wish for a great week and a quick p ic!

9 Months Already??

2009-05-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time has flown by since he first came into our lives. Nicholas is 9 months old today! He is such a good baby...always happy and has a smile that can light up a room. When he smiles, he smiles all over as his Poppy would say. His big brothers still think that he is the greatest thing ever and they can't get enough of holding him, kissing him, or just spending time playing and laughing with him. I think the feeling is mutual though...Nicky really looks for his "bubs" to come home from school and gets a real kick out of their crazy antics. He is crawling around and getting into everything he can, sitting up on his own, and really starting to babble to us. He has really found his voice lately and every day is experimenting with new screeches, squeals, and other crazy noises. Sometimes I think I have a little piggy...other times it just might be a spider monkey! haha He still isn't sleeping through the night much to my despai r, but hopefully after he cuts his upper teeth he will settle down and let his Mommy get some much needed rest. (2 hours a night just isn't cutting it for this Momma!) It's hard for me to watch all these new milestones that he is reaching. He is my last baby and I don't want him to grow up too quick on me, although I know it's inevitable. I just cherish each day and moment that I get to spend with my little guy and can't wait to see what he might do next. He is truly a blessing to our family and we all love him so very much. Here are a few recent pictures of our little man and that wonderful smile that makes us all so very grateful to have him in our lives.

Trevor still loves to hug and kiss on Nicky...although I'm not too sure that Nicky likes it all of the time :-)
I can just see this happening more and more in the future....all 3 boys piling into bed to wake up Daddy :-P

Okay, so he WILL sleep if I let him stay in my bed.....
One cool little guy....Ian took this pic and just loves it!
This cracked me up....Ian's new favorite thing to do is watch a movie on our portable DVD player....i think Nicky likes it too!
My sweet little baby boy
He LOVES his saucer and loves to bounce and jump in it...he can really make some racket with this thing and has a permanent smile just like this one on the whole time he's in it!

Such a good baby no matter where we go.....
He really wanted to crawl into his saucer...he finally made it yesterday!
I leave you with the big grin that we all are gifted with....he really does smile all over!

This Little Piggie....

2009-05-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

....went home with Zac!! LOL This past weekend we celebrated my brother's 30th birthday! Wow!! I, of course, had to tease him about turning 30 and then it hit me that I'm really not that far behind him! We all headed to Mom and Craig's house on Saturday for a good ole' cajun boil. Now for those of you who haven't ever had the opportunity to experience a boil, it basically consists of throwing some good veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, and onions in with whatever meat you desire! They chose to do sausages and shrimp along with a whole gob of spicy cajun seasonings....boil the whole pot together and spread it all out on a big long table...grab a fork and dig in! It was soooo good! Even my picky eaters "pigged out".
Now, on to the part about the pig. My mother, being the animal collector that she is, just could not pass up it up when she was offered a free (yes, FREE) pot-bellied piglet. Just 4 weeks old and extremely scared of people to boot! Well, after a rousing game of "catch the wild piglet" around a quiet Monett neighborhood (which led to an eventual tumble down a hill for my poor mother), she decided that just because it is free doesn't always mean you're getting a good deal! Within 24 hours she was trying to find a new home for "George" the pig. Luckily for her, George found a home.....with Zac! I gracefully bowed out when asked if George could come live with me (I have enough little piglets on my hands at this point) and Zac & Stephanie stepped up and decided they would give it a go....for now. We all got a big kick out of watching them try to wrangle a harness onto that poor little pig and then they took him for a little walk about the place on his very own leash! The kids will be the first to tell you that that little bitty pig can sure make a LOT of noise! hahaha I wasn't able to take many pictures on Saturday as I was suffering from a horrendous case of allergies...put a little pollen in the air and mix it with animal dander and you have one sneezing, sniffling, asthma attack waiting to happen with me. But, here are a few that I did happen to catch.

George the pig finally made his debut (the kids could not wait any longer to meet him) but he sure wasn't very happy about being seen!
They all wanted to hold him and pet him so badly...George had his own idea about that though.....
Notice Trevor's fingers in his ears....that little pig sure put up a fuss! Zac was trying (not too successfully) to put a harness on that thing...boy he can squeal loudly!
The kids all had a great time just playing in the sand plot
The big hit was Mom and Craig's new toy...a '72 MG Midget! I have to say that I sooooo want one of these! Such a cool little ride...we all took turns having GrandDad take us for a spin! All I can say is 20mph feels like 70 in this thing....it doesn't even come up to my hip and we all know I'm vertically challenged at a mear 5ft!
I did, of course, lend a hand on desserts and made some cakes for Craig (it was also his 50th birthday) and Zac. This 8 ball is about 7in tall and about 6in diameter. All the kids wanted to eat a piece of the big ball cake!
Zac got the "lady" cake. What guy doesn't want a girl in a bikini on his birthday? Instead of having one jump out of a cake....we just gave him the edible kind! haha Needless to say, this one was a hit with all the "big" boys. haha

Mother's Day started with a Bang....literally

2009-05-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend marked another chaotic Mother's Day for us. On Friday, 90+mph winds ripped through Carthage just as school was fixing to start and left quite a few of us without power and huge messes to clean up. Trees were either ripped out of the ground or broken like toothpicks, power lines were down, houses, cars, and other structures suffered different types of damage. We were lucky though, no tornados this year unlike last year. We were without power for 2 days but luckily had the generator to plug our deep freeze and fridge in to. We found shingles and limbs in our yard that weren't even from our house!! It was quite a storm, hit suddenly, and rattled our nerves for sure. In a span of 2 weeks I have had my heater, attic fan, and AC all on at one point or another......gotta love our wacky weather in good ole' Missouri.
We celebrated Mother's Day this year by spending time with the family at Alice's house. This past weekend also marked Alice's birthday (I better not tell you the exact age though...she might scalp me for it!) So, I had to make her a special birthday cake! Since she won a new golf bag at a tournament, i really wanted to make her the golf bag cake...so I did! Now, you can't play golf without a golf ball...right? So, I made her a big pink golf ball too..complete with Nike swoosh! We had a great time after dinner whacking golf balls outside, although I'm still trying to convince Trevor that he can't hit a golf ball like it's a baseball! All in all we had a great Mother's Day and as always enjoyed our time together. Here are a few pictures from our weekend!
With no power at home, I had to decorate cakes at Nanny's house...it proved to be too much excitement for Nicky so he decided his time was better spent taking a nap. Luckily for him, Bugsy stood guard while he slept!
Auntie Alice really liked her pink golfing gear!
Nanny started off the lighting of all those candles....
Then Ian and Levi decided they should relieve her and took it over....
Boy, the top of that cake got hot!! So hot it literally melted the icing! hehehe
She almost got them all in one big blow!
Nicholas and Levi had some "guy" talk on the floor
One really crazy thing about the storm we had was that everything was plastered in pieces of grass and new leaves....they were stuck so tight onto everything that it was like trying to scratch a sticker off something. Donovan says they were "vacuum sealed" onto everything.....wow, we had some crazy wind that morning!
This is just one of the trees that we lost that morning...I really liked that one too!! It always had the best colors to it in the fall :-( Thankfully none of our big, old trees came crashing down...that would have been a complete and total disaster if they had!
We could hear these limbs hitting the house as we headed to the basement...there were 3 this size that smacked into the house....dented the gutters and ripped a few pieces of trim off too. It wasn't a tornado...but it was close enough for me!

Sweet Dream Pie??

2009-04-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

I have something really cute to share with you all today. Every day when Ian gets home from school, he usually has something to show me from school that day. Well, while looking through his "take home" folder, I came across what I at thought was a story that he had written. Upon closer inspection though I realized that it was a list of ingredients. I was very curious as to what these ingredients were for.....Ian quickly filled me in! He had written a recipe out for what he calls "Sweet Dream Pie". I'm not really sure how this would be turned into a pie but it sure was cute to hear him explain it all to me. I wish my scanner was working so that I could show you the actual paper he wrote it all out on. I was really impressed with his spelling and writing on this recipe and I have to brag that he only misspelled one word...secondly. Every single other one, he got right! Here is Ian's "recipe" for his Sweet Dream Pie.....enjoy...I sure did! (I'm going to write this out exactly like it is on his paper :)

Ian's Ingredients for Sweet Dream Pie:

** First, I will add 1000 cups of chocolate covered strawberries.
**Secaly, I will add 9 cups of chocolate spice.
**Next, I will add 15 chocolate covered bananas in it.
**Last, I will add 10 cups of chocolate.

Don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me! He is such a creative child and I'm still trying to figure out what chocolate spice is. He asked me if we had any! hahaha

Easter....Part 1.....Finally!

2009-04-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yay!! I finally have my camera back and you know what that means.....more pictures to share with you! So I'm a little late on my Easter post, but better late than never...right? I did take my camera with me to both of our families dinners, but between the good food, crazy kiddos, and great company....I didn't actually take a single picture! I took it out of the bag and just left it there. Shocking, I know, but what can I say...I'm a blonde! haha So here are some pictures of the boys decorating their Easter eggs. They actually got to color eggs twice...once with Nanny Stahl, and once at home with Mom and Dad. They had such a great time coloring with Nanny that day and they really look forward to sharing that experience with her. I'm so glad that they do get to do it too....I think she loves it as much as the boys do! Well, the kids really wanted to do something a little different at home with our eggs this year. So, we made glitter eggs! And boy were they cool too! They had so much fun coloring and glittering our eggs that they were pretty disappointed when we ran out of eggs to do. So....they improvised and talked me into re-coloring the ones that they had already done with their Nanny! I know, we ended up with alot of pink, blue, and "not-sure-what-color-that-is" but they had a great time doing it. Of course, we had to follow that up with more glittering. What a mess we had but what a great time we had doing it! Here are some of the boys busy doing what they do best....making messes! (Finally one that they didn't get in trouble for! LOL)

Trevor was having such a great time coloring with his Nanny!
Hmm....think that one needs to sit a little longer
Yay!! My favorite color....green!
Very carefully writing on his eggs

Nicky thought egg coloring was pretty cool too!
Here we go again.......coloring and re-coloring...what fun!

Ian displaying his eggs at Nan's house....let me tell ya, they made some strange looking deviled eggs for sure! Fanciest ones we've ever had I believe! haha
The eggs that they kids recolored and glittered....oh well...they had a great time with it!

Family Pictures

2009-04-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

This past Easter weekend we went and had a new family picture taken.....finally! I've been wanting to do it for a while now and we finally had a perfect opportunity to have it done. A great photographer here in Carthage was doing a "special" on Saturday at the Historic Phelps House. I absolutely HAD to have them done there since it was the place that Donovan and I were married at. It was really pretty neat to be sitting there with our boys at the very place that we exchanged our vows almost 9 years ago. If you would like to see the proofs from that day just go to the following link and you should be able to see them. We got a few good ones and a few with us all doing something different (which, of course, is pretty typical with kiddos). If you are unable to see these for some reason just let me know and I'll email you the invitation! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

One Big Fish

2009-04-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

First I have to say I really didn't forget Easter....I forgot my camera at my Grandma's! So, until I can recover those wonderful pictures of all our Easter fun, I thought I'd share Donovan's latest catch with ya'll. A few weeks ago, Donovan and his Dad loaded up and headed to the river to try snagging a Paddlefish (aka Spoonbill around here). After a long drive and lots of time on the river, Donovan caught himself a big one! I have to say that I LOVE spoonbill...it's so good....but it is one of the ugliest fish I think that he has brought home! This wasn't our first catch of this type of fish, but it never ceases to amaze me how strange looking they are. The kids were amazed at how big it was. Ian really wanted to hold it but it was longer than he is tall and weighed as much as him too! So, he settled for taking a picture with Dad's big fish...Trevor didn't want anything to do with trying to hold it and was perfectly happy watching from a distance. Well now we have about 30lbs. of filets to eat and need someone to help us eat it all! Fish fry, anyone??

One strange looking fish.....at least the guy is cute! LOL See is is big enough to ride!! What a goober....:-P
Ian couldn't hold the weight of the fish so he settled for the tail :-)
I have to stick my hand where???
It's hard to tell on here but the tail was touching the ground...that was a big fish!

Do You Glow?

2009-04-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Golf, that is! Northpark Mall now has a new indoor mini golf course called Glow Golf....and it's all done in blacklight! It's pretty neat. A few weekends ago, we took the kids and they had a blast. There were "glo stations" set up throughout the place and you had to keep "charging" your ball to keep it glowing. The kids had as much fun dropping their balls in there as they did golfing! They did pretty good too. Trevor still isn't too sure we're showing him the right way to hold a club but he got it in a few times. I tried for a few holes but, I must admit that I am definitely not a golfer. I was way behind half way through and then Nicholas came to my rescue and I gladly relinqueshed my club. Ian got a hole in one on the very last hole and won a free admission and game! We'll definitely be doing that again in the near future. If you get a chance to try it, you should!

This picture just came out looking pretty neat. My camera didn't work just real great in there because of the lighting...or lack there of!
This is Nicholas...He really liked all the glowing stuff!
It's all in the hips.....he's getting pretty good!
Trevor really kept wanting to move his ball around :-)
He played 36 holes that day!! And probably a few extras too...
Trevor's thought he needed to "rake" the ball in :-P
I think I won!!! It was pretty close between Dad and Ian that day

Master of the Beaters

2009-04-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Well I've discovered something else Nicky really, really likes.......licking the beaters! That's right, he really likes to help me clean up after making icing for my cakes. Usually Trevor is my beater licker, now he has competition for one of his favorite pasttimes. I spent this last Saturday making a cake for my wonderful father-in-law's birthday. Trevor was as usual right under my feet the whole time (mainly to sneaks fingerfulls of icing) and Nicholas was content to hang out in his high chair and watch me work. He got pretty excited when I turned the mixer on so Trevor decided to share the beaters with him this time. Boy did he LOVE it! He had more icing on him than he actually got in his mouth but he sure was having a good time with it. Here are a few pictures of my little guy painting himself with the icing leftovers.

Mmmmm...the icing passed the test....now we need cake!!

My very first time making the golf bag cake....not too bad even though the humidity was giving me quite a bit of trouble with the icing.

**For those of you that may have tried calling me this past week...my phone is working now and you should be able to reach me. I didn't realize I was missing calls until this weekend! Hope everyone has a great week!

Sun, Fun, and...Bubbles??

2009-03-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we spent a lot of Spring Break week playing at the park. We spent one day "park hopping", one day we packed a picnic and met Donovan at the park for lunch, and on another day we had lunch with Nanny Stahl and my good friend Marrissa and her baby Ray. It was so nice to have Marrissa and Ray join us for a 2 days of fun. We took a nature walk and spent the rest of the time playing. I REALLY enjoyed this as I don't get many chances to spend time with my friends these days. We were lucky again and had nothing but beautiful days to spend time outdoors. Trevor was really happy to be at the park and spent most of his time on the slides, Ian ran around with my camera and took some pictures, and Nicholas and Ray had a blast on the swings. Us big girls also had fun playing on the swings and we used almost a whole bottle of stuff while blowing bubbles! You're never too old to enjoy swings, slides, sunshine, and bubbles!!

Marrissa and Ray came to play with us!

Nicholas and Ray liked to spend their time swingingTrevor is finally over his fear of the big slides and loved climbing all over everything
Ian had to take a break and cool off for a bit
What a cutie Ray is!
Nicholas got a little help on the swings from his big brother
Marrissa and Ray even took some time to swing
Nicholas was pretty sure he wanted to chew on the bubble wand
Blowing bubbles in the park....what fun!

A Park a Day

2009-03-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Last week was Spring Break for us and the kids and I decided that we should spend our time outdoors for the week. We were so lucky to have such beautiful, warm weather too! We decided that the park was definitely the easiest, cheapest, and funnest way for us to spend our time outdoors.....so, we went park-hopping! We're lucky here in Carthage to have several different parks to choose from and we tried to go spend some time at each one of them too. We actually did miss one or two of those in town, but we still had a great time. Luckily, there were lots of other kiddos to play with at the parks and the boys had a blast! We came home each day tired, hungry, and definitely dirty but we had a great time. Here are some pictures from our first day of "parking". Hope everyone has a great week!

Trevor is definitely a little scared of heights and doesn't much like his feet to leave the ground....he was debating really hard whether or not to attempt climbing this wall.

This marked the first day that Trev would actually go down the big curly slides!! He was too afraid before to tackle them...
Seems to be the only expression I can get out of Ian these days :-P

Finally decided it was worth climbing...once he did it he loved it!
Sliding with your brother is so much fun! The static from the slides had their hair standing on end for most of the day.
One silly kid for sure!
Nicholas's new favorite thing to do.....swing!
Two parks in one day and Trev's courage is building! Not too scared of getting off the ground now!
I give up trying to catch a smile....*sigh*

Just a Quick One!

2009-03-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Nicholas has discovered two new things this week that he just really LOVES!! First new discovery by him was how delicious biter biscuits are! Yes, they are really messy and tend to get orange colored goo on everything, but boy does he like them! Since we are on Spring Break this week, we have been looking for things to do away from home (This Momma really gets tired of being homebound ALL the time) so we headed to the park to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we've been having. While Ian and Trevor ran some energy off, Nicholas decided that the way to enjoy the park was definitely done best by swinging. He LOVED the swings! In fact, he loved it so much that we're headed to the park today for a picnic lunch with Daddy, getting some play time in, and then headed to the nature trails for a nice little scenic nature walk with my good friend Marrissa and her little boy Ray. It should be a good time and I will definitely have more pictures to post tomorrow! Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful weathe r while it lasts!

Not quite sure what this cookie thing is but boy do I like it!!
Nothing but smiles for my Mom since she gave me this neat snack
Don't even try to take my biscuit or I'll chomp your finger! haha

This swinging stuff sure is fun, Mom!!
So happy to be at the park!

Swinging sure is fun, but does it have to be so bright out?? :-P

A Whole Lot of Nothin'

2009-03-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today is just going to be one of those "anything" blogs. Not much has been going on around here but at the same time...a lot has gone on around here! Each of the boys has taken turns being sick...Ian with Strep and sinus infectin, Trevor with the flu and a sinus infection, Donovan with the flu, and now Nicholas has a cold. I have luckily dodged the bullet so far...knock on wood! Nicholas has sprouted 2 teeth since last Friday! We just went to the doctor today for his 6 month checkup and he is doing great! He weighed in at 20lbs! Wow!! He's grown alot in the last few months! He is tr ying to sit up by himself now and is babbling alot. Trevor also has had some big changes too. He started Preschool!! He is doing well with it, no problems when I drop him off. I actually have to make him give me a hug before he runs off to play! He's been at home with me since he was born so it's a big change to go and have to follow all thos e rules...so far, so good. It will be good for him to be around all those kids and it give him a chance to learn the structure of school since he'll be starting Kindergarten in a year. Plus it give me a chance for a nap! LOL I did actually get to take one with Nicholas the other day and it was wonderful!! I haven't taken many pictures lately but here are a few of the boys that I snapped the other day. I'm hoping that one day I will be able to get them all to cooperate at one time!

Attempt #1 for all 3 smiling at once....not quite what I was looking for

My little goofballs
Getting better....I see one smiling face :-P
My final try....much better! I'm really going to have to take them for a professional pic sometime soon.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week!

Who needs Air guitar when you can eat it!

2009-03-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I was given the opportunity to expand my cake decorating "skills". We celebrated birthdays for our nephew Levi and his Daddy, Brian. Levi turned the big 21 this year, we'll just say that Brian is also still in his 20's...(I don't want to get on Uncle B's bad side by giving the true number here)lol Since Levi has recently started learning how to play guitar it was only fitting when Alice asked me to try making him a guitar cake for his birthday. Since I'm all about some cake decorating, I jumped on the chance to create him a guitar cake. Now, I HAVE to give some credit to my wonderful hubby. Without his artistic abilities (I am all thumbs when it comes to drawing something) I wouldn't have been able to pull this off. I put him to work with some paper and pencil and had him draw me a guitar body and headstock patterns. He also was nice enough to actually cut the design out of the two 13x9 cakes that I had baked for it. I was perfectly capable of cutting the cakes out but he really wanted to have a hand in helping since it was for Levi. I think we did pretty good for our first attempt too! We had a great time at Alice's on Sunday and enjoyed getting to spend the day with our family. I think Levi really liked his cake, and I sure hope so as it was alot of work, but it was well worth it! Here are some pictures of my latest creation and of our time at Alice's. Hope everyone has a great week!

Stage 1--Didn't Donovan do a good job cutting it all out?
Stage 2: Okay...now it was time for me to take over....looks kinda like a guitar...
Tadaaa!!! My finished project...not too bad for the first time!
I'm pretty proud of this cake...it was by far the biggest and most difficult that I've tackled to date.
Doesn't he look thrilled?? He really did like it but doesn't like to have his picture taken.
The race is on...who can light candles quicker....Nanny on Uncle Brian's cake...or Alice with Levi's?? Can you guess which one has more candles on it?? lol
wow! she's pretty quick at this!
Uh oh...looks like Alice was trailing...Nan had to come over and lend a hand as Levi patiently looks on.....
yay! All lit....now time to make a wish!
WEll, Uncle Brian might be older but he's still quicker at blowing out his candles than the young whippersnapper here! lol *notice the haze in the air from all those candles...lucky we didn't set off the smoke alarm!

***If anyone ever needs a cake for your special occasion, let me know! I love to create cakes and am always up for a new challenge!

6 Down...6 More to Go!!

2009-03-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's hard for me to believe that 6 months has already flown past. Nicholas is offiically 6 months old now!!! yay!! He has grown so much in the last 6 months and is now wearing 12month clothing! A long way from his newborn stuff that was too big on him at one time. He's almost always happy, except for when he needs his britches changed or when he's hungry (which tends to be all the time it seems like) and he loves to sit and watch his big brothers and their crazy antics. The little stinker refuses to roll over ( I know, I should be concerned about that but I'm really not)...he likes to scoot around instead to reach the object of his attention. Don't get me wrong, he CAN roll...he just doesn't want to. He is loving solid foods now and hasn't turned down anything I've given him yet..not even spinach! wow! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he won't turn out to be as picky as Ian is when it comes to dinner time. Nicky is such a sweet, cuddly baby and I have treasured every minute with him over the last several months. I can't believe that in a few more short months I'll be making that 1st birthday cake for him. He is my last baby and it's hard to see how fast he's growing out of "babyhood". Here are some pics of my little sweetheart. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!
I know, I know....but naked baby bottoms are the cutest aren't they!?
So excited to be getting in the bath
I like having bathtime...but I really am too big for this tub now..
My chunky lil' monkey
how you doin'?
nothing more fun than an almost deflated balloon....he loved the noise this balloon made and got mad everytime we took it from him!
such a happy baby
What a sweet little face...I love that smile of his, it really brightens my moods!

A Mother's Prayer

2009-02-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

I found this today and thought I'd share it with all those Moms out there...definitely one of this Mom's prayers!

Happy Birthday Ian...just a little late

2009-02-23T16:29:00.001-08:00

I'm a little late with this post but I do have good excuse for my laziness in the blogging world. I've been putting my nursing skills to the test lately while caring for my sick kiddos and hubby. Poor Ian has had a stubborn case of Strep that we might finally have gotten rid of. It only took 2 different antibiotics and about 3 weeks! Now Trevor and Donovan are sick but luckily no sign of strep from them...just wearing me out!
February 15th marked my baby's 7th birthday! That's right...Ian is now officially 7!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like only yesterday he was my little baby that needed me for everything. Now he's just my big baby that needs me occasionally...but I'll take what I can get! Ian has been such a blessing to our lives and I can't imagine my life without him. I often say to myself and to Donovan "What did we ever do with our lives before we had him?' He makes me smile every day and I'm always wondering what is he going to do or say next! Ian is my little storyteller and boy can he weave some yarn! lol He is a wonderful big brother to Trevor and Nicholas, a delight to his Grandparents, and the light of our lives.
We celebrated Ian's birthday over the course of several days in fact. Friday 13th was his party at school (we just combined birthday with Valentine's), Saturday we all got together at his favorite Mexican restaurant, El Charros, for dinner, and then celebrated with everyone again on Sunday the 15th. Ian wasn't too sure what to think at El Charros. When it's your birthday they all come out and put a big sombrero on your head and sing to you in Spanish (which he got a kick out of) and then they like to try to smash your face into a big whipped cream topped treat. He liked the singing but wasn't sure whether to be mad or not over the whipped cream in his face (they got him pretty good too!). He finally realized it was all in good fun and from then on had a blast with the big hat and attention. Sunday was actually his birthday and we headed to Aunt Alice's for cake and ice cream. Not just any cake either....but a Darth Vader cake! That's all he wanted for me to make him this year...just Darth Vader. So that's what I did and he loved it!
Just to warn you...there are alot of pictures to follow but I had a lot to choose from and many more I could have posted. (I'm really going to have to figure out the slideshow on here sometime)
He really really wanted to take home the sombrero :-)
Mmmmm, you have to lick the candles ya know!
Ian and his Auntie Alices model their hats for us..
yay!! more cool stuff!
Trying to open gifts with his constant little helper, Trevor
Nicholas was just waiting for cake!
Trevor loved the "gooey" egg...he tried to feed it to everyone!
Bailey even had to play with the gooey egg....it looked and felt like a real raw egg...yuk!
One specially made Darth Vader cake for my boy
Cheese!!!!
Oh boy...ripping and tearing presents is great!
He loved the bottoms of his new Spiderman sandals and sneakers
He has since this almost used up all his Martian goo
The highlight of his day....his new Red Rider BB gun! And yes I did tell him not to shoot his eye out too! lol
Trevor was my icing taster while decorating....love those black teeth and purple lips!

A little late

2009-02-20T05:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a little late but I'm finally getting around to a Valentine's post! We had a great Valentine's Day this year. We started it off with Ian's school party which also kind of doubled for a birthday party for Ian too. His birthday is on the 15th so we took Spiderman cupcakes to his school party and all the kids sang Happy Birthday to him. I loved it! Thankfully Trevor is finally starting to behave at these events....the kindergarten parties were not much fun for anyone. The kids had a blast at the school between the games, Valentines, candy, and food. Then Dad got up on Valentine's morning and surprised us with yummy donuts! The kids LOVE donuts so that was a real treat to them. They were pretty happy kiddos after getting their Valentines from us and we ended up having a great day together!

Trevor showing off his Valentine's Card from Grandma Jan....they LOVE getting mail!
Nicky liked his Valentine's card too!

Trevor loved getting to sit with the "big" kids at the party
Typical Trevor style....eat the icing and leave the cake! lol
Ian and part of his Valentines booty
Where's my candy??
Look!!! A cupcake moustache!

Mommy's Littlest Angel

2009-02-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

During the last round of "snow days" the boys and I found ourselves looking for things to do to help pass the time. Well, we decided to dress Nicholas in this adorable onesie that he got from my very best friend, Jenifer. I think he looks like a little cherub in it with his chunky arms/legs and little wings. :-) During our little "dress up" session, we decided that we should also be taking pictures of it....so we did....all 3 of us! Here are just a few of the 20+ pictures that we snapped that day....I must admit that my two oldest boys are pretty good picture takers! Of course, they had a really cute subject to photograph too! These are all pictures that Ian and Trevor took of Nicholas that day...our little gift that was "Heaven Sent" to us!

Yep, sent straight from heaven!
I've thought from the first time I saw him that Nicky looks like his Grandpa Steve...he has my Daddy's crooked grin! I have very few pictures of my Dad but the ones I have look alot like this one!

You guys make me laugh! :-P
Ohhhh, I would love to chew and drool on that camera......

I took this one and he does kind of resemble the Michelin Man doesn't he?? lol

Taking a Journey...in 3D!

2009-02-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

We had a great time on Friday night...we had our first family movie night! We also have family game night, but that is for another post at another time! :-) We kicked off movie night with something none of us has experienced before....a 3D movie! Okay, well, Donovan has seen one before but the kids and I were new to it! We rented Journey to the Center of the Earth and it was a pretty good movie. It came with 4 sets of 3D glasses and the kids thought we definitely needed pictures of all of us in our "groovy" glasses. lol So, here we are in our movie finery....pjs can be included in "finery" right? haha If you get a chance to rent this movie, do it...it was a great family flick.

Here's Trevor trying to get himself all situated just perfectly for the movie

I think this was Ian's version of "the robot" dance....too bad I didn't catch it on video! :-P
Donovan was determined not to let us catch him in a picture with these glasses on....Ian finally caught him but he hid behind the baby! lol
"ooohhhh, wow"!!! Trevor had this expression on alot during the move...notice how he's looking over his glasses though! silly boy:-)
Ick...not a pretty picture but Ian wanted me to include it since he took it
I think Trevor was copying me here but it sure looks like a miniture Nixon immitation doesn't it?? haha

Bonfire in the Snow???

2009-01-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

Yay!! The ice/snow has moved out of the area and we were lucky...the worst of it skipped us this time and we made it through with our power intact even though the roads were a mess! Well, we have been waiting and waiting to burn all of our boxes that have been accumulating on our back porch and since everything was buried under the ice and snow (no chance of catching anything on fire luckily), we hauled everything outside for a bonfire in the snow! The kids LOVE to make bonfires and they really got a kick out of playing outside in the snow and having a spot to warm up at. Let me tell ya, it was really, really cold! I finally got Nicholas to sleep and ran outside for a few minutes to partake in the fun...I think i won that first round of snowball fights! lol I was only able to catch a few pictures of our time outside unfortunately. It was so cold that my camera wasn't wanting to work properly and me being the blonde that I am was trying to check my batteries and ended up dropping them in the snow. Oops!! Well after that the camera definitely wasn't working! So, here are the very few pics that I was able to snap before my little flubber. We had a good time....snowball fights, snow angels, a bonfire, and topped it all off with mugs of delicious hot cocoa!

Nicholas was content to sleep away while we all went out to play:-)
Getting all bundled up for the cold

He kind of reminded me of Randy from A Christmas Story..."I can't put my arms down"!! haha
Ian also got all bundled up for the cold...can't go out without your warm bib overalls, ya know?
At least the boxes burned...guess the brush will have to wait til another time. :-)
Trevor gathering up a snowball...

Got ya!!! Ian is getting alot better at his aim! haha
Then of course, Dad got out his "shield" and the battle was on!
Trevor's little icy hands....he was ready to go inside at this point.

What's the Deal??

2009-01-29T08:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, once again my last post is underlined despite my efforts to change it...and this one is not...what's the deal with that?? It seems that my computer likes to rebel against me sometimes!

70 Degrees Before the Big Freeze

2009-01-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, I was feeling the need for a spot of warmth in this cold weather so I decided to post some pictures from our day outside just a day or two before the winter storm hit. It was wacky weather as usual for us here in good 'ole Missouri....70degrees in the middle of January and a winter storm moving into the area. We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and spent the afternoon outside. The kids definitely were in need of outside time and did lots of running to work off their excess energy. We've also started a family game night and have been busy teaching the kids how to play their new games they got for Christmas. I must say that our boys are definitely competitive and when it's game time..."it's on like Donkey Kong" as their father would say! lol Here are some pictures of our latest fun......well fun in the sun at least!

Ben (the brown mutt) is our newest addition...Donovan rescued him when someone dumped him at the river... Ian named him after Ben10 the cartoon.....Cletis just had a birthday and is working on his 10th year now!

Nicky was just happy chillin' out in his stroller
4-wheeling fun!
Trev was really trying to get away but Ian had him caught!
A fierce game of Pirate's Cove....arrr, matey!
Yes I do realize Christmas is over but Ian refuses to let me pack away his Santa hat and even likes to wear it to bed...silly boy:-P
ARrrrr...give me all your treasure!
Just a little chunky monkey to brighten your day....he's getting so big now!

***Just a little update*** We just found out that Donovan will get to keep his job! Yay!! They have layed off 24 of their 38 employees and he is basically going to be foreman now. Luckily for us, he has made himself pretty indispensable to his company. His hours will be cut unfortunately but at least he's still employed! So for now I won't have to return to work but we'll definitely have to tighten the purse strings. Best of luck and lots of prayers to those that are still being affected by our worsening economy......

One of Those Weeks....

2009-01-27T06:18:00.001-08:00

It's just been one of those weeks for us....nothing seems to go right and everything that can, does go wrong....and the week is just beginning! As everyone knows, our economy is in a pretty rough spot and it seems like we can't turn on the tv or listen to the radio without reminders of how dire things are getting to be in places. Unfortunately for us, the recession has hit close to home. I have been a stay-at-home Mom for 4 years now and have loved every minute of it. Okay, loved might not be the entire truth but it has definitely been worth it for sure! My wonderful husband has dutifully been at work every morning at 6 am to support his family and he's done a fine job of it too! Money is tight at times and we don't get to go on fancy vacations or even go out to eat except for those special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, but we've made ends meet week after week, month after month and year after year. Well, it seems that times are about to get even harder around here. Donovan's company has decided to layoff half of their employees...it's a small company of about 40 employees total so half of their workstaff is a significant amount. They are trying to prolong the inevitable for everyone by first cutting hours. That's rough but not as rough as completely losing a job. Now his crazy boss (and I literally mean that man IS crazy) is entertaining the idea of keeping 12 of his full-time staff and working them on a rotating schedule every 3 months!! WTH!! I've never heard of anything like that before...."you, you, and you are going to work full time for 3 months and then be off work for 3 months"......how in the heck do they expect people to support their families for the 3 months they're not working?? Unemployment is available but you definitely don't make enough off it to pay all your bills and put food on the table and gas in the car. So, it seems that my time at home may unfortunately be coming to an end. I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. Keep your fingers crossed for me and say a little prayer that things will turn out okay...we're pretty freaked out about this right now and the thought of leaving my babies to go to work again just makes me want to bawl!
Then there is the ice storm moving through the area. All I can think is "oh no, not again"! The last few years have all been marked by storms that have moved through and taken out our power....for days and days at a time. Luckily we NOW have a generator but I'm hoping and hoping we don't have to use it. Last time this happened we were without power for 8 long days and I'm not sure I'm prepared to do it again with an infant. I'm hoping and praying not only for us, but for all of our friends and families that they stay safe and warm during this time as roads and power poles get slicker and icier. For now we're good...just enjoying a "no school" day and keeping each other entertained.
Okay, now that I've vented and griped I'm going to go play some Wii with my boys...I never can beat them in the MarioKart but it is a really fun game! Wish me luck...nothing worse than being beat repeatedly by a 4 year old who is many years from driving! lol Hope everyone stays warm and cozy, jobs in place, and all with the lights on!

Are We in Sherwood Forest??

2009-01-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last year marked the first time that Ian was able to go hunting with his Daddy. Now, Donovan is an avid hunter and will "bag & tag" anything that he can and now Ian is really getting into the hunting spirit....and yes we eat what they get! Well, Ian received his very own hunting gear for Christmas which included new outerwear and his very own bow! Yesterday was such a nice day that after school all my boys headed outside for a little archery lesson. As I was in the house trying to settle down a crabby baby, Donovan comes running inside and tells me to bundle up Nicky and come outside because I HAVE to see how Ian was doing shooting his bow. So, out we went to witness our young Robin Hood at work and I have to say that I am soooo proud of him! They both wanted me to see the "pattern" that Ian had already shot and I was pretty impressed with his results (definitely better than what I can do with a bow, I'm a little challenged in the archery division). Ian was on a role though and really wanted me to see him in action. It was great! His Daddy has done a fine job helping to guide him through the steps and he was beaming with pride over Ian's accomplishments. Here are a few pics of our little man showing his Momma how Robin Hood would do it! :-)

This was his first round of shots...not too bad...and yes, he made his own target too!

Nicholas and Daddy watching from the sidelines

Are you watching, Mom??
Lining up his shot very carefully.....

Ready, Aim....
FIRE!!!
Pretty darn good for a 6 year old!!
Wow!! He hit the bullseye!!! Watch out Bambi, our little bowhunter will be on the loose soon! :-P

You Want Me to Eat What???

2009-01-14T08:40:00.001-08:00

I'm sure that's what my little man was thinking when we first introduced eating from a spoon. I mean, after you've had nothing but breastmilk for almost 5 months why ruin a good thing? haha Well we've recently tackled the art of eating real food. Our first few attempts went something like this:

I'm supposed to eat what? With what??? (I love this picture...cracks me up)
Okay....in we go..............
Attempt #1...... Oh my....what a face! :-)
Attempt #2 ....and out it goes! haha
Much happier without the cereal & spoon! :-P
This picture will help to explain the next one....notice how he's really trying to fit both of those little hands in his mouth at the same time? Well, next we try some carrots for dinner.......this is the result after a bite of carrots and hands in mouth........
Hmmm....guessing carrots aren't a favorite yet?? haha I know it looks like I'm painting the poor kid orange! He actually likes carrots now and we now keep extra wet wipes in easy reach!!!

*I have no idea why the beginning of this post is underlined...I've tried to change it and I must not be as smart as the computer because it's not working for me. Of course, the rest of it is fine...go figure! haha

Better Late than Never....

2009-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

I know this is kind of late coming, but better late than never! We had a great Christmas this year and a pretty quiet New Year's. We had several celebrations to attend this year and it was hectic and wonderful as usual. We started it all off on Christmas Eve with the Stahl side and it was great! The boys are really into helping with handing out of the gifts (they had been practicing for a few weeks :-D) and were even more eager to rip into some gifts...which they did with great speed! lol We then headed home for the usual Christmas Eve festivities....after consulting with his Daddy, Ian put out the cookies and chocolate milk for Santa (of course Dad knew that Santa loves cookies and chocolate milk) which also included a note that said "Cookies for Santa...NO Dads allowed!" Well, Santa must have felt bad for Dad because he happened to leave him just one cookie. lol Ian was so sure Christmas morning that Santa had come that he swears he saw tracks in the driveway that HAD to be from Santa Claus. He was so sure of it that he almost had me convinced! We then headed to Seneca to spend Christmas with my Grandparents and we had a great time! Then on to Mom's house for yet another round of merriment....whew! We not only ended up with great gifts and full bellies for Christmas...but we also got a nasty flu bug too! We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home since all 3 of the boys were very sick with a bug, and it got a little scary as far as little Nicholas is concerned. Luckily though, we made it through it and everyone seems to be back on the healthy bus yet again.
Okay, now that I have written a novel for you to read, I have some pictures to show you....yes, quite a few of them, but I tried to include some from each day. Part of my New Year's resolutions.....to blog more often!! We'll see how it pans out! haha

They waited as long as they could....then the ripping commenced!
The cutest little gift around:-)

Trevor kept sneaking cookies.....

Ian was sooo excited about his GlowBoard
Nicky and his Poppy had a few good laughs together

All the boys got remote control cars and had to test them out right away of course!

Christmas morning...Ian was trying to convince Trevor that there were tracks outside :-)
Showing off their new pjs
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Trevor checking out his tool bench from Santa
My little deer hunter got a new bow...now he's got the tools to hunt with Daddy!
Trevor taking a break from presents at Nan & Pop

Nicholas loves to laugh with his Mammy

'Tis The Season

2008-12-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

It's getting cold outside and very cheery inside! We had a great Thanksgiving this year and the kids got to participate in one of their favorite holiday treats.....trimming the trees!! They got alot of practice this year as they not only helped decorate our tree, but also their Nanny's and Auntie Alice's huge tree! They really look forward to helping decorate when it's Thanksgiving weekend and this year was no exception. I must admit that they are getting pretty good with their ornament placements! We only had to rearrange a few from the lower branches and luckily no ornaments were broken this year. Ian even got crafty and decorated a tree for his bedroom...complete with ribbons, bows, and Disney ornaments! That is the new nightlight for the kiddos in their bedroom at night...they love to gaze at the tree before drifting off. I don't blame them either as it's one of my favorite parts of the holiday season! I love the look of a lit up Christmas tree...so pretty! Well, here are a few pics of my kiddos putting their talents to work! Hope you all have a fantastic week!

I had to share this picture of my adorable little man...doesn't he have the cutest grin??
Poor Ian got poked in the eye during his decorating...
Trevor was busy with putting the Santa Clausses in just the right spot
Doing such a great job!!
Oh boy...look at all those big ornaments!!
Happily decorating Auntie Alice's big tree
I just thought this was kind of a neat little picture...Nicholas loves to gaze at the tree
Our finished tree...didn't they do a great job?!
This is what Nicholas and I like to look at late at night while we're rocking in my chair....nothing like twinkling tree lights to soothe a cranky baby!

All I Want For Christmas.....

2008-11-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

...Is my two front teeth!! Not me, actually, but Ian has joined the ranks of "toothless" just in time for Christmas! About a week ago he comes home from school begging me to pull his tooth that is loose. Now, I'm not really one for yanking out teeth, but I gave it a shot nonetheless. Unfortunately for Ian, I'm also not very good at it! So, we patiently waited for Dad to come home and take over the task. One good yank was all it took and out popped his first front tooth! Now, Ian wasn't exactly thrilled after this one as you can tell from the pictures, but was much happier the next day with a shiny new "golden" dollar from the tooth fairy. As it happens, we're sitting around trying to eat dinner a few days ago and Ian was really having some difficulty with his corn on the cob.....ah hah!! The other tooth was just waiting patiently for a good yank. So, it was Dad to the rescue again!! Another good yank and out popped the other tooth! Ian now likes to go around and sing "All I Want for Christmas is my two front teeth" and it is so funny to hear him!

Trevor didn't want to be left out and wanted a picture of his teeth too!
Not a happy kiddo after that first tooth came out

All it took was 24 hours and a visit from the tooth fairy to cheer him up!
Look at that big ole' toothless grin! He loves seeing what he can fit in the gap now! lol

3 Months and Counting

2008-11-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Nicholas is officially 3 months old today!! I can't believe it! It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by. He weighs in at a hefty 15lbs now and has grown 5inches since his first doctor's visit! He is such a sweet baby...he loves to be held and cuddled, gets a big kick out of his big brothers and their crazy antics, loves to talk and laugh at all of us, and is just the best little guy a proud Mommy could ask for! He is finally starting to sleep for longer stretches at night and I'm already having to make a "too small" storage spot for his clothes. We are so blessed to have 3 healthy, happy, and loving children. Here are some pictures of our wonderful kiddos!

This is usually what happens anytime I try to take a picture of the 3 of them at the same time....Each of them does their own thing :-D

Attempt #2...or was it 10? haha

Trevor loves to be close to Nicholas....all the time in fact!

Nicky gets a big kick out of Ian. They have a great time talking to each other :-)

A very rare sweet moment with Trevor and Nicholas

I had to show one of Nicholas and his biggest brother who holds and kisses him every chance he gets!

This is what I like to call his "Mommy save me" look...Trevor is constantly hugging, kissing, or trying to lay on him.
Just took this one yesterday! He is getting so big now :-(
I love his little toothless grin and double chins! He is such a sweet baby!

Time to Catch Up!

2008-11-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

I must apologize for my blogging lately...actually the lack of it! So, I'm combining a few things into this one post. Since my last post we've been through Halloween parties, family get-togethers, and a few missing teeth. We had a great Halloween...Ian was a ninja (no surprise there! ahaha), Trevor was supposed to be a "bone guy" but at the last minute he changed his mind and wanted to wear a scary pumpkin mask instead of his original one, and Nicholas was our sweet sleepy little puppy. We went to the Halloween party at school and yay!! we made it through it without any troubles from my very ornery Trevor. Later that week we made a trip to see Mammy & GrandDad to do some more trick-or-treating and we get to see a hot air balloon go right over the top of Mom's house! It was so neat, we could hear it and watched it for a long time. I was hoping it would land across the road so we could take the kids to look at it. Trevor is the one who spotted it and came running to tell us there was a balloon about to crash into Mammy's house! hehe We have also had a few visits from the tooth fairy recently. Last week Ian lost his first front tooth! He looks so cute with his toothless grin. I have taught him the "All I Want for Christmas is my 2 Front teeth" song and he sings it to us....alot! Well, I am going to strive for a post a day for the next few days, so stay tuned for more updates!

One very cute kiddo!

Notice the big ole' hole in the front!! :-)
Trevor loved getting to hang out with the big kids during the Halloween party at school.
Ian and his friend, Ben the Banana :-)
Getting into Ninja mode...
One very scary Pumpkin head.....Trevor did not want me to take his picture and this was the only one I was able to catch of him.
Nicholas wasn't too hip on candy..he was too busy sleeping!
GrandDad taking the kiddos for a ride around the place in the golf cart
Mammy soaking up some Nicholas lovin'.....notice how far off the ground we are! Their new deck is like being in a big treehouse...16ft off the ground! Very cool!
I was able to catch a pic of the hot air balloon as it crossed over the trees...this was right across the road from Mom's.

Pumpkin Carving 101

2008-10-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yay!! It's finally that time again...the time for trick-or-treating, jack-0-lanterns, and best of all...candy!!! What better way to mark the season than to carve a good pumpkin...or three! Yep, this year we used our creative skills on not one, but 3 pumpkins! The kids each wanted one for themselves, so we dug through the piles of pumpkins and found what Ian deemed as "perfect" pumpkins. The boys love to give us ideas on how to make the faces and their all time favorite part is scooping out the "guts". Well, they had plenty of guts to scoop this year! Ian also decided that he needed to save all the seeds...not for roasting, but for planting. He wants to grow some pumpkins for next year! What a fun idea and one that they will definitely get involved in! Here is our Jack-o-lanterns that will grace our front porch this Halloween night! Hope everyone has fun, happy, and safe Halloween!!

Nicholas thinks pumpkins are neat too!!
My little "poser" getting ready to clean his pumpkin
Trevor wanted to "stir" the pumpkins :-)
Nothing more fun than scooping out a pumpkin!

While pumpkins are fun to carve, they leave a funny smell....Ian's face says it all!! haha
Donovan's first creation...he deemed this one "Ichabod's fate" :-)
This was my creation although I had some help from Donovan...Nicholas wasn't too hip on Mommy carving pumpkins this year!
Last but not least....Ian's creation...the "OOHHHHh" pumpkin
Our masterpieces all lined up and glowing away!

The Leaves are Falling...

2008-10-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

Which means it has to be Maple Leaf Festival time!! Yep, last weekend was the yearly Maple Leaf Festival in Carthage and we decided to brave the thousands of people that flock to it and took the boys to the parade! The Maple Leaf parade is very long, it's usually cold or raining, and there are literally thousands of people lined on the streets to catch the action. It's great! This year was absolutely beautiful weather for the parade. After walking many blocks, we finally found a good spot to watch from. Ian and Trevor loved it! Trevor could usually be found with his hands over his ears because he thought it was loud. But, when the bands would get close, the hands came down and his little booty would start shaking. He just couldn't resist the music! haha Must be the drummer in him! Ian was content to catch the candy being thrown at us, not to mention he had to taste-test it too! Nicholas was perfectly content sleeping the morning away....despite the bands, the people, the horns, and everything else. After the parade, we went to the car show (which was immensely cool) and then back to the square for a little carnival fun. We all had a great day and are looking forward to doing it all over again next year!

Nicholas peacefully snoozing away
Catching candy by the roadside is always good fun!
I'm a dancin' machine!!

Catching the parade from the best seat on the side of the road...Daddy's tall shoulders!
Lollipops for breakfast, anyone??
The tower was the only way to get to the top of the big slide!
Ian braved it and made it in record time!
What a great day we had!!
It made me very sleepy :-)

Leaps and Bounds

2008-10-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm finally blogging again...YAY!!!! It's been awhile since my last post and the boys have been eating up all my spare time these days. Nicholas is a touch colicky these days but I was able to catch a few good grins. He is growing so fast!!! He is 7 weeks old now and weighing in at almost 13lbs! His big brothers love him so much that they can't seem to let him get any peace and quiet! haha He is constantly hugged and kissed but he doesn't seem to mind that much. He really gets a kick out of his big brothers' antics these days. Here are a few pics of my little man and his very loving big brother!

Trevor is never very far from his side
I'm getting so chunky now!!! :-)
sweet little face

My favorite pic of these two....

Cheese!!!!!!!!!

I wish for.......

2008-09-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

I must admit I've been a bad blogger lately...I blame it on lack of sleep and energy! As I was taking pictures off my camera the other day, I came across these of Ian and Trevor at the hospital. The hospital in Joplin has undergone some new construction and they have this really neat waterfall wall in the admitting area that the kids loved to visit. It was a "wishing" waterfall according to Ian. So, off the went to visit the waterfall..armed with a handful of pennies for all those wonderful wishes to be made! Ian made a wish for everyone he could think of and he really put some thought into each and every one of them too. It was too cute! I'm also including two pics of little Nicholas...he is growing so fast! He is officially 1 month old today and I can't believe how fast the time is going by. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Hmmmm....who should I make a wish for now?
Being a big brother and helping his little brother with his wishes!
Trevor really just wanted to play in the water more than anything:-D
Really thinking hard on this wish!!
Awww, that's what Momma likes to see...her two boys being nice!
What a sweet little face...even if he's on the verge of crying!
Look how big I'm getting!! I can finally wear my new clothes!!

2 Weeks and Counting!

2008-09-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well, Nicholas is officially 2 weeks old now! I can't believe he's been with us for two weeks! Of course, when your nights and days all blend into one, it's easy to miss the time flying by. I took Nicholas to his first doctor's appointment on Wednesday and he passed with flying colors. He has gained back the weight he lost and has surpassed his birth weight. He weighed in at 7lbs. 13oz and measured in at 21 inches! I guess all that eating he's been doing is doing it's job! haha He is finally starting to fit into his clothes and is starting to get little rolls on his legs and arms...so cute!! In the short time that he's been here, I've found out a few facts about little Nicky: he really likes to eat....constantly....about every hour or less at times, he really only likes to sleep in the mornings when Mom can't sleep with him, he LOVES to have his hair washed but hates to have a bath, he doesn't like to have his diaper changed and will protest quite loudly at times over us bugging him with this chore, he snores while sleeping and snorts when he's really hungry (sounds like a little piglet at times..haha) and overall.....he's just the sweetest, most kissable, huggable, loveable baby and we all love him to pieces! Here are a few pictures that I snapped of my little man this week....He is changing so fast!!

Snoozing in the swing
Yay!! I can see an eye!
My little spike-haired blondie
What a sweet little face

Awww, snoozing with Daddy.....:-)

Happy Birthday Nicholas Donovan!!!

2008-08-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

He's finally here!!! Nicholas Donovan Stahl made his grand entrance at 12:39am on August 21! After spending the day at home in labor, we headed to the hospital around 10:00 on the evening of the 20th....Nicky joined us a mere 2 hours later! It was fast and furious, but we both made it through it well. Poor Nicky had some bruising in his face and head due to a very tight cord around his neck, but he is recovering well and is no longer our little "blueberry". His brothers love him and can't get enough holding time in. We are very blessed with our 3 wonderful sons and look forward to all the experiences ahead of us. If you want to see Nicholas's hospital pics, go to freemanhealth.com and look at the Freeman Babies Online. Just enter the birthdate and look for my name...you can even leave us comments on there! Stay tuned for more updates on our bundle of boy!

7lbs. 9.6oz.....20inches!

Two happy big brothers

Our little blonde monkey on his first night home

What a Kid!

2008-08-19T06:34:00.001-07:00

August 14 marked the first day of school for my big first grader and we had another surprise in store for that same evening! He was so excited for school to start this year. He was completely prepared..right down to his Spiderman backpack and cool new Spiderman lunchbox. He informed me before school that morning that he thought all the kids would LOVE his new lunchbox. haha I wanted to get some pictures of him before we left that morning and all he would say was "make sure you get my lunchbox in there Mom!". He had a great first day and I hope that he keeps up his love for learning through the years.
Now the other part of this blog is about a very stubborn tooth. Not only was the tooth stubborn, but Ian proved to be quite stubborn too! We've been patiently waiting for a few weeks now to yank his first loose tooth...he wasn't wanting us to do it and fought us every time we tried to even look at it. Finally he comes to me on Thursday and asks me to wrap a paper towel around his tooth because he wanted to pull it himself. haha Well, he did try but it didn't work out like he wanted it to...so......Dad FINALLY got to have a go at it. Ian was a little shocked once he was holding it in his hand and he carried around an old compact mirror for the rest of the evening so he could look at his new "hole". Now when it came time for bed he refused to put the tooth under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. He insisted that we put the tooth in a plastic baggie and tape it to the side of his bunkbed so that the tooth fairy for sure would see it. haha As soon as I woke him up the next morning, he popped over the side of the bed and exclaimed "ohhhh, there's money!!!" I guess the Tooth Fairy did good this time! haha

All dressed up and ready for his first day back!

Look at my "hole" :-)
Okay, for those that are wondering about the string around the ear.....Ian informed me that this was his "Aniken Skywalker braid"....he's a huge Star Wars fan and this is part of his disguise when he's in Jedi mode. I've tried hiding the string, but he keeps finding it again! haha
The very proud owner of a shiny new Golden Dollar straight from the Tooth Fairy

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2008-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of on a role this last week with my blogging! I'm actually trying to keep my camera picture free until we head to the hospital...hence, my frequent blogs! :-) Well this one is about my boys' first trip fishing in the canoe with their Daddy. As much as I would have liked to go with them, canoes aren't really made for very pregnant ladies. So, I snapped a few pictures of the boys before they headed off and they were sooo excited. Trevor especially was bouncing around as this was his very first time to go in the boat...Ian has been once before but was still pretty happy about getting to go again. It was pretty cute to hear Ian telling Trevor all about the "boat rules" before they headed off. We had to make sure their life jackets would fit them first and once we got them on, Trevor didn't want to take his off. Despite getting rained on most of the day, they ended up having a great time and are looking forward to doing it again very soon!

Trevor's face says it all :-D
He wanted to practice with his new fishing pole before leaving..lol

Ian giving Trevor a "lesson" on canoe etiquette
Trying to "help" Daddy load the canoe
Sooooo ready to go!!

Trevor turns 4!!! A little early....

2008-08-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Just to warn you now...there's quite a few pictures to look at on this one! We celebrated Trevor's 4th birthday on Friday evening. I can't believe how fast time has flown by....my baby is officially a "big boy" now! Now, his birthday isn't officially until Monday, August 11, but we wanted all the family to be able to celebrate with us, so we did it a little early this year. Trev has been sooooo excited about having his party too! He has been telling me for over a month now exactly what kind of cake he wanted....a blue race car.....and he stood at my elbow for the duration of the decorating process to make sure I did it like he wanted! haha He LOVES cars and trucks...really, really loves them...and he was very excited to get quite a few cars, trucks, and a new race car track for his birthday. His expressions are always so great and he was very enthusiastic while opening each and every gift. He made sure to play with each and every thing before we carted him off to bed too and was immediately at it again this morning before we had much of a chance to even wake up. Well, here are some pictures from his party!

One "made-to-order" race car cake for my baby boy
He waited very impatiently all day to have a piece too!
Oh boy!!! More trucks!!
Ian was very eager and willing to help explain how everything worked :-)
He suddenly got shy when we started singing Happy Birthday to him............I think he gets that from his Momma!
Got em' all in one blow!
The air-powered "stomp on it" Monster truck was a huge hit!
Dad even got to play with everything for a little bit
Oh boy...another truck..and this one has a winch on it!!
He is actually holding his new Scooby Doo fishing pole above his head here...he kept moving when I tried to take the picture of it.
Hard at work with his new tools and toolbox....course, the goggles are a must, even upside down! haha
Ian took this picture and begged me to post it...so here is me and my birthday boy!

All dressed up and nowhere to go!

2008-08-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

Considering how extremely hot it's been lately...and it's not just my hormones screaming that....we haven't been spending much time outside. With heat indexes around 110 degrees, we've pretty much been inside bound. So, the boys have figured out new ways to entertain themselves and me. They discovered the stash of old halloween costumes and have been hamming it up for my personal entertainment. Trevor has even gotten into the spirit and he is the boy that hates to dress up. Well, the other day out comes Ian in his power ranger suit (minus the mask since they tore it up) and right behind him is Trevor! They looked so darn cute that I had to snap some pics of them. Now, Trevor has a love for cars and trucks...I mean he REALLY loves them....so off came the power ranger suit and on went the hot wheels outfit. He wanted to be a race car driver and sounded just like ole' Ricky Bobby of Talladega Nights..."I wanna go fast!!" hahaha Later on that day I caught them playing 'Star Wars' in the garage...complete with Darth Vader mask, black robe, and light sabers. At least it was a nice change from the usual arguments!! Never a dull moment around here I tell ya. So, here are a few pictures that I took of my guys hamming it up for the camera.

My two Power Rangers
Imitating his big brother
Watch out now!! I know special moves :-D
I feel so safe with my two protectors here! :-)
This is how I go fast Mom!!!

Darth Vader and Obi-One came to visit
I think Darth won the first round

Baby not Included

2008-08-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my very best friend, Jenifer, and my wonderful Mother-in-Law & Sister-in-Law, Joy & Alice, threw me a baby shower for our newest edition. It was wonderful! We received many adorable things to dress our little man in, plenty of diapers (thank goodness!!!), and several great keepsake blankets from our family. My wonderful Mother had pity on her poor grandson and bought him a new carseat! Hooray!! This has been a source of anxiety for me since my old carseat was, unfortunately, not correctly stored by my child's father (he left it in his workshop) and our cat has been using it his own little bed since Trevor outgrew it. Imagine my surprise to have Donovan drag it out and I find it so dirty I can't get it clean. I dreaded having to clean that thing up and put my new baby in it...so, Mom got him a brand new one and it's fabulous! It's just too bad I'll only be able to use it on one baby! haha There were, of course, many comments about my every growing belly...I'm just about to outgrow my maternity shirts even though I haven't gained much....but the day was filled with love and affection and I had a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone that made it so memorable for me! My bags are packed, the carseat is installed, the boys are prepped, and all we need now is.....a baby!!

Shirley couldn't wait to help open presents!
I had my very own little helper that day :-)
This is a great blanket that Aunt Sis made Nicholas...it's longer than I am tall, so this is only half of it. The older boys are already arguing over who gets to use it first! haha
Keeping Mom busy writing down gifts
checking out Nicholas's new carseat
Yep, Mom, I'm about to outgrow this one too :-D
Mmmmm, waiting patiently for cake
Caught me when I wasn't looking...what a belly!
Everyone should have a cheesy grin and big belly!!

Lazy Days

2008-07-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the dog days of summer are here at last. It's not only hot, it's extremely humid these days in good ole' "Missory". We've been spening alot of time outdoors lately and that has equalled out to two very cranky, tired, sweaty, and hot boys. Okay, well, maybe I've been slightly cranky too....being 9 months pregnant in the middle of the summer is not always a pleasant experience. Not too much has gone on around here lately as we've mainly just been preparing for Nicholas to join us. So, I thought I'd just post some miscellaneous pictures of my two youngsters just messing around the place. I have a few pictures of the kids on here messing around with the mower...I have a feeling they are going to fight over who gets to use it in a few years! lol That would be fine with their Daddy since he really dislikes mowing...although, they might have to fight me for the privilege! I happen to love doing yardwork and even still hop on the mower with my big ole' belly to get 'er done! It will be nice though to have a few strapping young men to take over the chore from time to time though...they're already practicing for it!

One hot and sweaty boy
Wonder if we can get it started without Dad noticing??
See, already arguing over it! haha
Trevor loves the mower....you can usually find him sitting on it just like this too!
Course, he really likes his 4-wheeler too!

Time to cool off with a little Guitar Hero action
Awww, Mom.....don't take my picture!

Radio Flyer fun!

2008-07-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

We finally got the wagon fixed! The boys have had an old Radio Flyer wagon for a long time now, but it was so rusted that they couldn't sit in it. So, we were given a new wagon to replace the old one with. Well, I was feeling adventurous the other day during one of my "energy bursts" and decided to get the ball rolling. I took off the wood top on the old wagon and made Donovan take the old wagon to work to remove the old part. Well, yesterday he brought it home and the boys got to help "build" a new wagon. They loved helping and had a lot of fun with the finished product. Their Dad modified this one so that they can sit in it and steer it around now. He also planted the idea in their little heads that they can pull it around behind the 4-wheeler....I can just imagine the bumps and bruises that will result from that one! Of course, them being boys they can cause enough mischief on their own too!

Helping to put on the finishing touches...
Ian "striking a pose" once again.
Dad got a pretty good workout doing this!!

Trevor really, really loved it! Maybe I should have a talk with Dad about running with power tools in hand?? haha
this should wear them out pretty quickly!

My Son the Rockstar!

2008-07-16T06:49:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen...I would like to introduce you to the one, the only, Stevie Ray Vaughn Jr!!! Yep, that's right folks...straight from the Carthage area is the youngest prodigy of the late and great SRV! Now, most "almost 4-year olds" have a fondnest for cartoons when they watch a little tv.....not my Trevor though! His greatest thrill is from a musician that has been dead and gone for over 20 years now. Donovan and I are big fans of SRV and have all of his albums, just so happens that our children have also picked up this fondness for him. Trevor LOVES Stevie Ray Vaughn and would prefer to watch his concert video over anything else that he has to choose from, and believe me these two boys have many things to choose from. Several times a day he is asking to watch "Stevie". He loves music even at his young age and will probably grow up to be a heck of a musician one day. Now, to get in true Stevie mode, one must have the battered, ugly cowboy hat before proceeding any farther. Trevor calls this his "Stevie" hat. I really, really need to figure out how to put a video on here because it is very entertaining when he gets in Stevie mode. Not only does he know the words and sing the songs, but he also tries to imitate whatever Stevie Ray is doing on the screen. If Stevie has his guitar in the air jamming down, well, so does Trevor. It really is adorable and I hope that his love for music never wans. Hopefully I will be able to get a video of this sometime soon, i think that everyone would really enjoy it...I know that we sure do!

The one and only SRV, Jr...complete with hat!! :-)
Just getting warmed up with Stevie Ray

Caught me watching him :-)

Notice the posture....very professional isn't it? Amazingly just like Stevie does on the screen!

Believe it or not, he does actually try to play this little guitar...a whole lot of noise comes out of that toy room between Trev's playing and Stevie rocking out on the tv!

Better late than Never!!

2008-07-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've been slacking horribly lately on my blogging. I have, unfortunately, had a lot going on lately and that has included a temporary bout of bed rest. So, I am finally posting some of our pictures from the 4th! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, it was gorgeous and not at all like the past couple of years. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast! We spent the first part of the day at Aunt Alice's house and the kids took turns blowing off firecrackers with the "big kids". Finally, for the first time, Trevor wasn't terrified of the fireworks and even set off a few of his own! It was so cute to watch the boys...they were being so careful lighting them and then they'd sprint away like it was chasing them. I was so proud of Ian, he did a great job on his fireworks and we didn't have a single mishap all day. That evening we all packed up and headed to our house for a catfish fry (thanks to Donovan's many, many trips to the river) and more fireworks. Since we live only a few blocks from the golf course, we have a perfect view of the city's fireworks. We had quite a few people camped out in our yard that evening to watch the show and it was fantastic! I wish my camera had been working properly so i could have had more pictures to show, but there are few here for you to check out. Hope everyone had a great time!

Trevor gets a little help from Jess
Smoke bombs are always a favorite!
Time for the punk to change hands again!
Being sooo careful with his smoke bomb:-)
Hmmm, what's in this box?
Cheese!!!!
What to do next???
The one and only night shot I was able to take of Ian with his sparkler
Just a few of the city's fantastic show!

The beginning of the finale...wish I had gotten a video of it!

Loves of Our Lives

Wordless Wednesday

My little trophy winner...

Bear with me...this is a long one!

I've been bad.......

Wordless Wednesday starring Ian Bryant!

My Baby turned 1!!

Funny Faces for Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Trevor Walker!!

One Busy Week!!

Introducing a sweet bundle of girl!

Wordless Wednesday

If you build it....

Happy Birthday America...just a tad late:-)

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Joy!

Like the Spike?

Wordless Wednesday

One Expensive Fish......

Going Poolside...

Water Baby??

Wordless Wednesday :-)

Another baby...another cake!

Wordless Wednesday.....

The Sun is Shining...Time to Play!!!

Water Fights

All We need is the Baby.......

Happy Anniversary to Us

Business as Usual.....

9 Months Already??

This Little Piggie....

Mother's Day started with a Bang....literally

Sweet Dream Pie??

Easter....Part 1.....Finally!

Family Pictures

One Big Fish

Do You Glow?

Master of the Beaters

Sun, Fun, and...Bubbles??

A Park a Day

Just a Quick One!

A Whole Lot of Nothin'

Who needs Air guitar when you can eat it!

6 Down...6 More to Go!!

A Mother's Prayer

Happy Birthday Ian...just a little late

A little late

Mommy's Littlest Angel

Taking a Journey...in 3D!

Bonfire in the Snow???

What's the Deal??

70 Degrees Before the Big Freeze

One of Those Weeks....

Are We in Sherwood Forest??

You Want Me to Eat What???

Better Late than Never....

'Tis The Season

All I Want For Christmas.....

3 Months and Counting

Time to Catch Up!

Pumpkin Carving 101

The Leaves are Falling...

Leaps and Bounds

I wish for.......

2 Weeks and Counting!

Happy Birthday Nicholas Donovan!!!

What a Kid!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Trevor turns 4!!! A little early....

All dressed up and nowhere to go!

**Baby not Included**

Lazy Days

Radio Flyer fun!

My Son the Rockstar!

Better late than Never!!

Baby not Included