12 Years Together

December 19, 1997

I would just like to tell everyone how grateful I am to be married to Michael! He really is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love him so much! I put together this little song to share with you some of our life for the past 12 years.

(Think 12 Days of Christmas)

In our 12 years of marriage my true love's shared with me:

12 thousand diapers
11 major purchases (over $300)
10 years of renting
9 million blessings
8 big moves
7 different jobs
6 home computers (at the same time)
5 years of schooling
4 amazing kids
3 operations
2 paid off cars
and a loving happy family!


December 19, 2009
Happy Anniversary Michael
I Love You!

Jacob Rides Alone

Today Jacob decided he was ready to try riding his bike without the training wheels. I told him that he would have to remember to put his feet down when he stopped so that he didn't tip over. I held on to the back of his bike for 2 seconds and let go. HE TOOK OFF! I chased after him to catch him when he crashed, but he never did! He figured out the brakes on his bike and putting his feet down! He even got to the point that he would ride down our steep driveway and over the bump and didn't have any problems. He can also ride back up the driveway! I was amazed! I have never seen a bike that small without training wheels before! Three years old! He is amazing! Way to go Jacob! We are so proud of you!

Michael's Work Christmas Party

On Saturday we went to a Christmas party for Michael's work. They do it every year. They have donuts and juice. They have a bunch of different crafts or activities for the kids to do. They have a clown that makes balloon animals and paints faces. There is also a woman who does ballet from The Nutcracker. Of course Santa is always there too! It was pretty fun. We all came home covered in glitter, but the kids loved it!

The Recycled Christmas

Gracie was Old Mother Hubbard in the play, 'The Recycled Christmas'. She had fun doing the play and did a fantastic job!

Gracie and Nikki (Simple Simon)

Gracie's favorite part of her costume was the glasses!

Gracie does well talking in front of a crowd even though she claims to be shy!

The Bathroom - Before & After

After two coats of primer
And three coats of white paint
And three weeks of painting stripes in 6 colors with a 3/4 inch brush
And three more days of touch-ups with a 1/4 inch brush
And two days of painting and assembling towel hooks

The bathroom is FINALLY finished! It took me a month to
get it done, but I am very happy with the results!

Before - BORING

After - FUN

Before - DARK

After - BRIGHT

Before - MONOCHROMATIC

After - COLORFUL

I didn't realize how plain the bathroom was before! It was also darker. Now it is very bright and colorful for the kids! I was afraid the stripes would make the bathroom seem closed in, but it actually makes the ceiling seem higher than before. I know that it's different, but we love it!

I made individual towel hooks instead of a bar. Each kid has a different color of towel, and now they have a place for their towel, other than the floor!

A close-up of the names

Happy Birthday Chris!

Yesterday Michael's brother Chris came to our house so we could celebrate his birthday with him. We had fun visiting and the kids love to smother him!


A muscle man cake just for Chris, the muscle man of the family!



Happy Birthday Chris! We had fun with you here!

Medical Mistakes

Yesterday when Allie got staples, the area was swollen. It looked to me like the staples were in the right spot. This morning however, with the swelling down, you can tell that the doctor totally missed the cut! You can tell a little bit in the first picture I posted. This new picture shows the holes from the staples after they were removed, totally under where the cut is!


We saw our regular doctor today, he was irritated! He said the cut wasn't even big enough to need staples. The first doctor said in her notes that the cut was almost 3 times longer than it really was. He also confirmed that the staples were in the wrong place. He said the other doctor totally missed the mark! How am I supposed to know if she needs something done or not? That's why we trust doctors to tell us what is needed! I understand that not all doctors will make the same diagnosis, but if you decide to use staples, they should be in the right spot! The doctor today gave me my co-pay back and told me I should call and tell them I want my co-pay from yesterday back as well - because the visit was a waste!

SO, my sweet baby girl got stapled in the head for nothing!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

Oral Language

Yesterday was Emma's Oral Language Competition. Her poem this year is 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' She performed it perfectly! The judges thought so too because she won 1st place! So next week she competes at the regional competition, we'll keep you posted!

Staples

Look at that sweet face! You would never guess that she got two staples in the top of her head today! This lovely floral arrangement jumped off the top of my TV stand and landed right on her head!


She didn't like getting the staples in (because they don't numb it!) but it was really fast and then she was fine. I didn't realize when they said staples, they really meant staples! So in 10 days we get to go back and get them taken out, never a dull moment here!

My Little Chef

I was in the middle of making dinner when I was called out of the room for something (I can't remember what now). When I came back Allie had slid a chair over to the stove and was stirring dinner!


She looked at me and smiled and said "Ayee help you!" (Ayee is how she says Allie) I guess I need to be careful about leaving the kitchen when I am cooking!

Soccer Finale

The regular soccer season is officially over. Last Saturday Emma and Gracie both played in their last games of the season. Emma's team won 6 to 1 with Emma scoring 3 of the goals!

In the third quarter of Gracie's game the score was 5 to 1 the other team. In the fourth quarter they came from behind and scored 5 points to win the game! They were both very exciting games and a great way to end the season!

Garage Doors Shouldn't Do This

This is what happened to my garage
door today when I tried to open it

This is SO not what I wanted to do today!

Pancake Characters

Emma has been working on her pancake characters,
and she got a couple of really good ones!

Mickey Mouse

Tweety Bird

Emma's Example

It drives me crazy when you have these sweet children and other kids are mean to them! Before Emma's soccer game yesterday, one of the girls on the other team said something really mean to Emma. The other girl told Emma that she was going to lose the game because she is fat. It bothered her and hurt her feelings. I tried to tell her not to let it bother her and just focus on the game. I told her that what the girl said wasn't true and she knew it. But it still hurts when someone is mean.

For the rest of the game I stewed about that. How could she say that!?! Any way Emma's team won the game and the other team all started crying. Emma went over to the other team and told a friend of hers that she played well. Then she went over to the girl who had been mean to her and gave her a hug and told her she played really well!

I was so impressed with Emma. I was considering all kinds of mean things to say to this mean girl, and my daughter was trying to make her feel better! I have always hoped that my children would end up being better than me, and in this case Emma was so much better! I am supposed to be a good example to her, and here she is 10 years old, being the better example! I hope when I grow up I can be just like Emma!

Playoffs

Emma's soccer team played yesterday. The team they played, they have played twice before. One time Emma's team won, the other was a tie. The game yesterday was to determine who goes to the playoffs. Someone had to win. If the game was tied at the end they would play another quarter. If it was still tied they would have a shoot out. If it was still tied they would go to sudden death. They went to a fifth quarter. Tied. They went to a shoot out. Emma's team won 2 to 0! She is going to the playoffs again!

Soccer

Soccer this year has been very fun to watch! Gracie and Emma have both done very well. They love the game and are so good at it! They really are amazing to watch. I know I am their mom and you might not think they are as good as I said, but they really are! It's not just a proud mother speaking! The refs and other coaches think the same thing! Here are a couple of photos of them. I wish I could put a video of them, but pictures will have to do for now!

Emma and a teammate both go for the ball

Waiting for a throw-in

Gracie chasing the ball

Gracie up against the other team

I Love You Too Much

Another one of my favorites of Jacobs. When he was younger and we said "I love you" to him, he would say, "I love you too". Then I would tell him "I love you so much". And he would reply with "I love you too much". I absolutely love it when he said this. Unfortunately he doesn't say it very much anymore. I still say it to him though and he smiles at me and tells me he loves me too!

It is fun to watch them learn and grow, but sad at times when you love the little things they say and do, and you know that one day they will stop.

Be-licious

Since the blog is a sort of journal for me, I am putting things that I want to remember. Things that I think I will never forget, but I know will. I want to remember things that my kids say, and which kid says it!

Jacob wants burritos for dinner every night. Every time I ask him what he wants to eat it is burritos. Whatever I happen to put on the table, he says he doesn't like. Even if he has never tried it before, he doesn't like it. I guess he isn't that picky after all because once he tries it, he usually likes everything. If we can just get him to try a bite he says, "I like it, it's be-licious!"

In some ways I hope he always uses the word be-licious!

Best Patient

Today Jacob had surgery, a procedure more like, but he had to be knocked out. He was an angel the whole time. He sat there and let them put the IV in and only whimpered a little. The nurse taped it to his arm really well so he wouldn't try to pull it out when he came out of surgery. He hated the pj's they gave him to wear and he refused to use the crib, he wanted a big bed. They were very nice and brought a big bed for him. The nurse gave him a coloring book and some crayons to keep him busy until it was time to go to the OR. When he came out of surgery he would open his eyes and look at me, but I could tell he couldn't see me. Then one time he opened his eyes and made eye contact with me and smiled. I knew he was awake then. The procedure went well and the doctor expects a great recovery. The worst part of the whole thing was removing all the tape on the IV! Jacob kept saying to the nurse "be careful, just be careful with my arm." He also said to her "Next time use only one piece of tape, okay?" All the nurses said he was the best patient of the day. He kept making them all laugh. All the other kids were crying and grumpy, he was just his sweet self! He wanted all of the nurses to come to our house to play with him and his toys.

I explained to Jacob that I wouldn't be able to stay with him the whole time. I took a picture of him and the girls out of my wallet and told him that he could hold it while I was gone. That way he could at least take his sisters with him. He held on to the picture and showed anyone who would look at it. He told everyone their names. One of the nurses asked him which was his favorite sister and he said, "I love all of my sisters!" What a sweet boy!

Cute Pretty

My cute curly top kid - Her hair is past her shoulders when it is wet,
but the curl shrinks it right up!

Allie loves to put on dresses and have her hair combed. She always looks in the mirror and says "Allie Cute Pretty"! I must say I agree!

Halloween Visitors

We had some very cool visitors for Halloween this year! Check out the pictures of our new friends! Too bad my kids were gone somewhere, they would have loved to meet these cool characters!

Ginormica (complete with Derrick)

Tigger

Optimus Prime

Violet

The whole cute gang!

The Many Wigs of Michael

Gracie's wig

Emma's wig

There really are no words to describe what happens to my husband at certain times. We were out trick-or-treating and when we came home Michael had Chloes orange wig on. He had been wearing it to pass out candy with Jacob, Allie and Sydney!

Halloween Party

It has been a while since I did a slide show and there are so many cute pictures, I just had to make one!

Carving Pumpkins

Michael helped the kids carve pumpkins. Emma loves it!

Gracie loves it too, even though you might think otherwise!

Jacob and Allie think it is pretty gross!

Unfortunately, I am allergic to raw pumpkin, so I am not much help!
(Did I say UN-fortunately?)