Wordless Wednesday - Owen's Birthday Cake(s)

I know - no words! Look closely at the expiration date. March 16 2006! That's why it ended up in the trash!







For more Wordless Wednesdays visit 5 minutes for mom.

Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!!

I can't believe that 2 years ago I was sitting in church with contractions. Whispering to Ryan that, "I think I might be in labor!" And seeing the expression on his face while trying to be quite. I made it through the sermon, only to tell Jen that I wouldn't be at MOPS on Wednesday! :)

I can't believe that we couldn't come up with a name for our little Owen. I think Ryan read the entire Baby Name book while I was in labor. We waited until he was born before actually settling on a name. I couldn't imagine his name being anything different. He's our perfect Owen.

I can't believe how perfectly he fit into our family. It was as if he was always a part of it. Well, minus the crying from 9 p.m. ~ 1a.m. EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT. But that only lasted about 6 weeks, so that's a distant memory! (Ryan might beg to differ!)

I can't believe how quickly Owen is growing up! He is walking and talking, and isn't my little baby anymore. Parts of me are excited for the years to come. But then other parts are pretty sad that he is growing up to be a little boy.

He is our sweet little Owen, and you CAN believe that we wouldn't trade him for the world!

Happy Birthday my "little guy!" Mommy loves you!

Chloe got her hair cut ~ ALOT!!!!!

Last night Chloe and I had a girls night out, and went to the salon to get our hairs cut. Chloe knew that she wanted her hair cut, she just wasn't sure how short. She said that she wanted it pretty short, and she also wanted bangs. She's never had bangs! So I made a sad face, when she said she wanted them, and she said to me, "it's o.k. mom, I'll still be me!" She's so sweet!

We get to the salon, and she told the stylist how short she wanted it. I wasn't so sure about it, but I let her make her own decision. As I was getting my hair trimmed, I could see her getting her hair cut. It was kind of sad to see all of that hair go. The entire time we were getting our hair cut, she said she wanted bangs, and then she didn't, did, didn't. It was crazy. Finally, she said she wanted bangs, and just as the lady was about to cut, she said she didn't! She's a little like her mommy, being so indecisive. Needless to say, she didn't cut bangs (I'm secretly glad about this) and her hair looks adorable!!

Here's the before picture: (I think they cut about 6-7 inches)


AFTER: (At the salon)


At home:

And this one is from this morning. I was so excited, because it wasn't a bunch of knots. This is going to be so much easier to brush!!!!

20 Times.

So I've read in alot of books/magazines that it takes several times of trying for a child to like a particular food. I've actually read in one spot it could take up to 20 times!

Well, my little Owen does not like fruit ~ of any kind. I can occasionally get him to eat applesauce, but that's about it. I continually try to give him bananas, apples, grapes, etc. But he wants nothing to do with it. (Ryan is just the same)

It's not for lack of trying either. It seems that he really wants to like bananas and grapes, but once he tries them, he just doesn't like them. I was handing out bowls of grapes to Chloe and Brett, and Owen said that he wanted some. So again, I give him a bowl with about 10 grapes in it. I saw him put one in his mouth, and it seemed as though he liked it!! Yay! I guess my persistance was paying off!!

I was cleaning the kitchen, and the kids brought me their empty bowls. Yes - Owen's was empty. You wouldn't believe the amount of praise that Owen received because he actually ate all the grapes! It was like a huge party was going on in my kitchen! It was awesome ~ until...

I put the kids to bed, and started to clean up the family room, only to find grapes everywhere - under the couches, next to the t.v., under the entertainment center, etc. He didn't eat the grapes afterall! I would've loved to be in his head, when we were all dancing around praising him for eating his grapes. He must've thought we were crazy!

Throwback Thursday - My sister is going to kill me for this one!

Who am I kidding ~ I actually can't believe I'm posting this one! But hey ~ let's all have a good laugh!!!

(From L to R: Melanie, my neice Melissa and me!) I'm guessing this picture was taken in 1986 sometime.

All I have to say about this is - Mom, what where you thinking giving us perms like that?!?! :) Love you anyway!

Wordless Wednesday - Making faces on the Pumpkins!

For more Wordless Wednesdays visit 5 minutes for mom.

Owen's 2nd birthday party!!

Saturday, we had Owen's 2nd birthday party! He doesn't officially turn 2 until October 30th, so I'll save the sappy post for then! :) We have been practicing for weeks how to sing Happy Birthday, and how to blow out candles.

Here's a video of him a few days before singing Happy Birthday...(don't mind my voice)



He is just so sweet! I could eat him up.

We had such a wonderfully beautiful day! It was near 75 degrees if not a little higher. It was an airplane themed party. The shirt I bought for him to wear was from baby Gap, and it had airplanes on it and said Future Pilot on it. It had long sleeves, but of course, he had to wear it, so I just put it on with shorts and sandals! :)




I took this picture mostly because my pumpkins were so stinkin' cute, but also because I couldn't believe that we had the windows open in the middle of October!



Here's a picture of all of the treatbags - only 17 this time. I think last year there were 24?!?!? The boys had little boy airplane name tags, and the girls had girlie ones! Thanks Mel!!





And I'm actually quite proud of the banner I made. I think the reason I'm so proud of it is because I hand wrote it out ~ and my hand writing is NOT neat - to say the least. Even my sister said, since when did your handwriting get so nice?!? :) If you can't tell, it's on cloud paper.



Owen waiting patiently to open his presents - he was so good all day!!



Here's THE CAKE that my mommy made! She's awesome!




And let's not forget the infamous Rice Krispie Treats! Thanks again Mom!!!

And of course, my little guy on the big day ~ singing Happy Birthday. My sister is videoing, even though it sounds just like me!

There's just something about a Diet Coke from McDonald's

I have known, pretty much all day that we were going to McDonald's for dinner tonight. Chloe had a dr.'s appt. at 4:15, Ryan had to lead Cadets at church, and Owen got a gift card to McDonald's for his birthday (Thanks Auntie Tara and Uncle Len!) :)

Anyway - by about 1:00 p.m. I was craving a Diet Coke. I actually have some 2 liters left over from Owen's party, but there's just something about a good fountain Diet Coke from McDonald's! We got out of Chloe's dr.'s appt. (it is just her asthma, and now we are on 5 medications, instead of the three that we previously were on) :( and we were on our way to get our dinner. I decided we would just take it home - I don't really care to sit inside, and Ryan wasn't with to help, so we just came straight home. I got all of the kids out, and started to bring the food and drinks in. You aren't going to believe this, but I wasn't 1 foot inside the door, when my Diet Coke falls to the ground, and spills all over the carpet. I was ticked to say the least! I set the drink carrier on the fireplace mantel, and get the kids organized with their food. I clean up the carpet, and settle in to eat my food, only to realize that their is a completely full diet coke in the drink carrier on the mantel!!! No lie! My long awaited coke was sitting right on the fireplace! Oh thank you dear McDonald's worker who made the BIG mistake of putting 2 Diet Cokes in my drink carrier instead of one!

Today was a day for SLEEPING!!

I called sleep-in for this morning! Ryan let me sleep-in until about 9:13 ~ which is a rarity in my house! It was awesome. Woke up - had some breakfast, and started to clean the leftover mess from Owen's Birthday Party from last night! (I'll do a separate post on that one - don't have it in me right now!) Anyway - we ate some lunch, and I put Owen to bed, and set out to have a nice little nap with Brett. We slept for about 2 hours (Owen was a little over 3 hours!) and it was awesome!! We haven't been sleeping well at night, because Chloe's asthma has been acting up, so she's been coughing really bad at night - for hours at a time! :( So this was much needed sleep for me! Remember to keep her in your prayers if you think about it! Thanks!!

"I'm gonna be nice to the ladies."

Last night Chloe had a sleep over. Chloe and Emma just wanted to have "girl time" in her room, so of course, I wanted to let them do that. Brett wanted nothing more than to play with the girls! It was so hard to keep him out of that room!

After dinner, Chloe and Emma asked if they could go right back upstairs after they were done eating. I had no problem with that - I was just so excited that they were having so much fun together. Brett was still eating, when he said, "mom, can I go upstairs? I'm gonna be nice to the ladies." I just thought that was so sweet!

Again, this morning, he crawled into my bed and said, "the ladies are still sleeping!" Too cute!

When he's sweet, he sure is sweet, but when he's not - get outta the way!

Throwback Thursday - Summer of 1981 ~ Part 2

Here's another picture from our vacation in the Summer of 1981. This one was taken at the Grand Canyon. (I think) Now that I look at the picture a little bit more. I think it was the place where you can be in 4 states at once?!?! I'm not sure. Everyone in my family tells me that I was really crabby during this part of our trip. Who me?!? Yeah right!! This picture is of the whole family - minus dad. I'm sure he was the one taking the Polaroid picture - he was a pretty big fan of that camera!! I love how dated this picture is! Not only the colors, but look at us! I won't go into details, you can pretty much figure it out for yourself! :) (Hey Sharon - talk about short shorts!!!) :)

Man - I wish I remembered more of my childhood!


For more Throwback Thursday ~ vist Pinks and Blues Girls!!!

Wordless Wednesday - This was not forced!! :)

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 minutes for mom.

Parties, pumpkin patches and bonfires!!

We had a really fun weekend! Friday night was my brother-in-laws 30th birthday party. We had alot of fun! Tons of laughing, so that always makes for a great time! :) I'm sure my sister will post pictures soon!

On Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch! The kids had a blast! It's not too far from our house, and it had so much to do!!




We took a hay ride to a corn maze, and then that led us to the pumpkin patch!


They sold fresh Kettle Corn there, and I couldn't pass it up! Owen loved it!! we kept a close eye on him while he ate it! ;)







Chloe and I laughed at this rooster. It looks like it had a really bad hair day!


And this rabbit has got to be on steroids!!


My kids officially want a bunny after seeing these at the Petting Zoo. I tried to tell them that they could visit Tulip, but that wouldn't do!


And of course we had a blast again this year at Grandma and Grandpa's bonfire! There were tractor rides (the boys pretty much stayed on this the whole night) bobbing for apples, decorating a pumpkin and lots of candy and treats!!

Aunties are the GREATEST!!!

My sister and I are Craft leaders for our local MOPS group. It's alot of fun to come up with ideas for a craft, and then try to make it all come together on a budget.

Anyway, on Wednesday afternoon, Melanie and I and our 6 kids went to Jo-Ann fabrics to find the pumpkin craft that we were planning in our heads. Unfortunately, we didn't find exactly what we needed, so we decided to run to Michael's (we're glutten's for punishment).:) As we were walking out of the store, all of the kids were hanging on Mel's cart, and wanting to ride with her. I, of course, had Owen, but all of the other kids were hopping into Mel's van. At first, I was happy, because I love that my kids love Auntie so much, but then I felt sad. I'm not the cool Auntie that everyone wants to be with. :( I was putting Owen in his seat, when Ben came up to me and said - in his sweet little voice - "Auntie, I want to ride in your car." I was elated, I know it sounds really petty, but I was so glad that he wanted to come with me. Next thing I know, Simon is hopping in my van and asking if he could ride with me too!! (And I don't even have a t.v. in my van!!) So it ended up with Brett and Chloe in Mel's van and Simon and Ben in my van! It was alot of fun to talk with them, cause it's not real easy to do that when my kids are around. They had their fair share of pinching, etc., but it was nothing that I couldn't handle! ;)

Throwback Thursday - Summer of 1981

So I'm new to the "Throwback Thurday" scene, but I thought it looked fun, and I'd give it a try! :)



My mom and dad had a great idea to take a whole month off, and travel to the west coast ~ with FIVE kids!! In a car!! At the time we lived in Illinois, so it was about 6500 miles that they put on the car! Phew!

I don't have much of the details, because I was only four, but I did do a little bit of research - with the help of my Mom and Dad! :)

So seven of us were crammed into a 1978 Burgandy Chevy Caprice Station Wagon. It looked something like this, but as I said, I was only 4, so I can't remember much about it...



My two brothers had to sit backwards in the way back seat - the entire trip! Ugghhh! And the night before we left, my dad had to paint one of the doors, because my brother pulled it out of the garage and scraped the side passenger door! :)

The picture above is from Tijuana, Mexico. I'm the one with "Rosita" on my hat, my sister Melanie is "Maria", my brother Len is "Cisco Kid", my brother Paul is "Loco Kid", and my sister Leanne's hat says "Kiss Me." I love how my brother Len is sitting on a real donkey. On this photo, it came in a little sleeve that says, "if you're not happy with this photo - blame the jackass!" Too funny!

My dad said that when we went to Vegas it was 115 degrees out! My dad took all the kids swimming, and my mom found a laundromat to do laundry. I guess our duties never end! :)

On the way home, we were in the car for about 5 minutes, and my dad got a ticket. I'm sure it wasn't a shock to any of us, because that was pretty much par for the course, and it still is, isn't it Dad?! :)

I'm sure it was fun and held alot of memories for the older ones, but as I said, I don't remember much of it ~ except for the stories that I hear.

I do have to add that my mom said that she only had to roll down the window and scream once, while in Arizona. I give them credit. That's alot of time in a car with 5 kids!

For more Throwback Thursdays, visit The Pinks and Blues Girls!

Wordless Wednesday - Playtime with Daddy!

(Chloe's not too fond of the rough housing and tickling!) :)




For more Wordless Wednesdays visit 5 minutes for mom.

A trip to the grocery store is never easy, is it?!?

Saturday I took the three kids to the grocery store. Ryan was busy at his friends building more duck blinds, so I really had no choice. We were having my brother and sister-in-law, Kristin and their kids over, and I had to get a few things.

I went to the store that has the little "Customer in Training" carts. If you've never seen these ~ they are miniature size versions of an actual shopping cart, and the little ones push them around the store, and "help" mommy get everything she needs (and many things that she doesn't).

I told the kids that they could use these carts, a)because I only needed a few things, and b)before I saw the parking lot. It was PACKED!!! How was I supposed to tell them that they couldn't use them now ~ they were so excited!!

We got into the parking lot, and before we went in, I gave them the speech of, "you stay right by mommy, you don't put anything in your cart, and NO fighting!" Things started out great. They were all in a line following me, and actually listening to every word I said. We went down aisle after aisle, getting smiles from most people, but definite looks of "why would you do this on a Saturday - I'm trying to get my shopping done, and your kids are in the way!" I'm not really sure that that is what people were thinking, but I can tell they were thinking something by the looks I was getting. Whatever. We were in the 6th aisle, and the boys were reaching the endcap. I was waiting for them at the end of the aisle. I don't know how it happened or who actually did it, (it was one of my boys) but an entire display of cans of frosting fell and cans were rolling all over the place! I about lost it. Thankfully the boys just accidentally banged into it ~ it wasn't like they were fighting or anything, but it didn't make matters any better. Like I said - this store was packed, and having a whole display of frosting fall to the ground made everyone's head turn! Their were two workers that were very eager to help, and it got picked up in no time! Thank God!

We were on our way then - just about done. I think I was in aisle 8, when this women says to me, "are they all yours?" I reply "Yes." I was waiting for the line that I ALWAYS get after someone asks me if "they're all mine" which is "you've got your hands full!" Suprisingly and thankfully, the lady says to me, "they are such good kids ~ I've been watching them walk behind you, and they are just behaving so nice." I smile and say "thanks!"

I don't know about you, but it is so rewarding to have a complete stranger tell you that your kids are so well behaved. And who am I kidding? For the most part (minus the little accident with the frosting) they were very good [that day]!

Drumroll Please!!!

And the winner of my very first giveaway is....



mommy to an angel!!


**Mommy to an angel - please e-mail me your mailing info., and which scents you would like! Don't forget that you get two scents! Congrats!!!

I knew it wouldn't last forever.

Each one of my kids has called my mom by a different nickname. With Chloe, it was Oma. (Which is actually Grandma in Dutch ~ she started it on her own though) With Brett, I'm not sure what he called her, but I know it was something. (Middle child syndrome ~ what can I say?) And now with Owen it is Baba, or at least it was ~ until today...(sorry, not the best video)



My mom has forever tried to get one of these nicknames to stick, and after 13 grandchildren, it just hasn't been successful. I feel really sad about this, as you can tell in the video, but one thing remains ~ no matter what the kids call her, she's grandma - and a darn good one at that! :)

What can I say? I'm a copycat!

But a good copycat at that. ;) Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer posted about these shoes that were so cute! And you can believe that I went right out to Target and got myself a pair!! Take a look...



Are they not the cutest shoes ever?!? I think so. :)

What a fun night!!!!!

Last night my dad (he lives in Pennsylvania) was in town for training conference, so we all went out to Connie's Pizza for dinner. It was awesome, because they put us in a back room with no one else in there. When you put me and my sister in a room together, you automatically have 6 kids, not including my brothers kids, so needless to say it gets loud, so it was nice to be in a seperate room.


Here's the whole group - minus my sister, her husband and three kids, and my two sister-in-laws.


I have no idea where Owen is in the picture ~ probably hanging on my leg! :)

Here's a picture of my siblings that live here in town. Just one sister missing - she lives in Florida!:( (l to r: Paul, Melanie, Aimee, Len


Grandpa and Chloe


My sister and I were trying to take a "self-portrait." My neice Leah threw her dough in the air, and caught it just at the perfect time. :)

Here's me and Melanie. Could our eye color be any different?

Simon and Chloe

My most awesomest, coolest, best, oldest brother Len, and his son Trey. Love you Len!!


Dad and the boys.

Mom and the girls.

And I just love this one of my sister's son, Talon. He was so quiet all night, and was just content "grazing" on everyone's food and pop. Too cute!!



And I just love this picture, because I was trying to get a picture with Owen and my dad, and he wasn't having it, so Ryan tried to get in the picture to help, and my most awesomest, coolest, best, second oldest brother, Paul, is popping his head in, in the background. ( I can't play favorites!) Love you Paulie!!

So, anyway, we had alot of fun. I was pretty camera happy - I never take this many pictures when we go out to dinner. It was fun though. Thanks Dad for dinner! Love you!