The Big Foot saga continues...

I have to definitely say that Brett is all boy! He absolutely loves bugs and worms. WORMS! Ugghhh! He just can't get enough of them. Last week we learned of the Big Foot that died in his pocket. This video was taken, probably about a week and half ago. Brett has shorts on, so it had to be a bit ago, seeing as we just had snow two nights ago - CRAZY!! Anyway, we were a little bit more fortunate, and didn't end up with any dead wormies getting noodles thrown over the top of them! :)

Melissa's Bridal Shower

Last Saturday, we had my niece Melissa's Bridal Shower. We had it at Cafe Borgia, in Munster, and it was just awesome! Of course, Melanie and I had a blast planning it all, and then putting it all together the day of! My mom I think has a bit of fun too - she went on a wild goose chase to get the pink ice candies from Fannie May, and then ended up with both the pink ice and pink mint meltaways! Could it get any better than that!?!?:)


LOVED the menus! :)

SISTERS! Could we look any different?!?;)

My sister, Leanne, with her daughter Melissa

I love how my niece, Lauren, is the only one looking at me and smiling for this picture!:) Love you Lo!


We played a game called "and the bride wore..." everyone had to answers questions about what Melissa was wearing. Here's Rachel (Melissa's best friend and one of her maids of honor) showing me what color Melissa's shows are.

After the shower, we went to my sister Melanie's house to have a Rhinestone party! Melissa's invites had to have 10 rhinestones glued on to each one! They turned out gorgeous! We also surprised Melissa with a little personal shower. Little did she know that she was going to have a visitor...



Yeah, it was just my brother!:)

Melanie could not keep a straight face for this picture...


I don't even want to think about my niece wearing lingerie! She got some cute stuff though!:)


It was a long day! Here's Melissa and Lauren - they are so sweet together! They really have an awesome relationship!


Can't wait for the wedding! It's gonna be so much fun! Only 46 days, right Melis?!?:) Love you honey! (just found out on Saturday that she reads my blog too!:))

Sometimes we get bored at our house...

Since the boys got the Nerf guns in their easter basket, they have been a huge hit. They play with them just about every day...so does Ryan.

Tonight after dinner, just before bed, he made up a little game with Chloe. It's something like the knife thrower in the magic show. He played this game for quite awhile! Take a look...



What would I do without him! He definitely makes me laugh!

Owen's little accident.

The other morning I was meeting Melanie and her kids at Hobby Lobby to get some craft supplies for a MOPS craft. I got the kids dressed, and headed to the store. It's about a 20 minute drive from my house. We managed to get in the store, and out without any major traumas, well minus the one where Owen wanted to push the cart, and I said no, and he threw himself onto the floor and screamed, but that's a completely different post.

I decided on my way home that I would stop at CVS, I needed some diapers, hair gel and some other misc. items. I told each of the kids that they could get a little treat, so we were in there for quite a bit. The boys both picked M&M's, so I bought an 8-pack of the fun size, and Chloe picked a pack of gum. I was just about done, and Owen said, "Oh! I just went potty!" I looked down at his pants and noticed they were wet, and couldn't understand how they got so wet while he had a diaper on!?!? I made my purchases, and got to the car. I took Owen's pants off, only to find that he had NO diaper on. I completely forgot to put a diaper on him! Just another case of mommy brain!:)

On a side note, the other morning, I turned a movie on for the boys so I could take a shower. I couldn't believe that I actually had a nice peaceful shower! I was getting dressed, and I couldn't hear either one of them. I didn't check on them, because I just thought they were enjoying the movie...yeah, dumb mistake. Thankfully, I was just taking the boys to the park, so I didn't blow dry my hair, so it didn't take that long for me to come downstairs. I came into the family room, only to find the door to the garage open, and no boys in sight! Amazingly, I didn't panic, and I started to yell their names. They were both in the van...finishing the 8-pack of M&M's that I had bought the previous day at CVS. There were six left. They ate them all. Ugggghhh!!! Always something different each day! :)

Seven years!!!

Today Ryan and I celebrate seven years of being married! It's amazing the things that we have done in seven years. Let's see - started our own business, moved the business office twice, moved into new homes - twice, HAD THREE KIDS, and much much more.

We have had some really awesome times, and we've had some trying times - it's not all peaches n' cream. (That's for my niece, Melissa!:)) But through it all, we love each other, and remain faithful to one another. I love you babe! There isn't anyone else out there that I would want to spend the rest of my life with! :)

On a side note - I found out over the weekend that my cousin, Kim, reads my blog - like every day. She is such a fun outgoing person - love her! Anyway, it seemed like she had alot of fun at my wedding. Here's the proof.....


So I was looking through my wedding pictures and stumbled across this one. I love this picture for so many reasons! My cousin Kim looks like she is just having a grand old time! I love that she's dancing with my Uncle Junie! (I'm not sure if you guys read my blog, but we love and miss you guys - ALOT!!!) I love that my Auntie Jerri is sitting at the table looking at them dancing, and has a huge grin on her face. My cousin Dave is sitting at the table behind them, smiling. Everyone just seems to be having a great time. And everyone seems happy. I can honestly say that I am so happy to have not only a wonderful husband, but also a wonderful family! I love you guys!!!

Why are we moving?

So this morning at exactly 4:44a.m., I woke up feeling like my bed was moving, and I heard the closet doors banging. I quickly grabbed Ryan's leg, and woke him up and said, "why are we moving?" We both sat there for what seemed like a while, a bit baffled. And then Ryan shook the bed with his body, and then said, "because you're moving!" Now let me explain a bit - I'm a crazy sleeper! I wake Ryan up at least once a week, because I hear crazy sounds, or I'm talking in my sleep, etc. So in his defense, he thought it was just one of those times.

It was not...it was an earthquake!!! Ryan woke up to get ready for work, and turned on the news, only to find that there was a 5.2 magnitude earthquake at 4:37 a.m. in West Salem, IL. We live in Indiana. It lasted about 20 seconds. (seemed much longer than that!) He woke me up, and I was so glad to hear that it was an earthquake - not because I'd ever want anyone to ever be hurt, or anything, but because in a sense, I was redeemed! Maybe I'm not such a crazy sleeper after all...

Big Foot

Today, I sent the kids outside to play. It was a bit chilly, but I bundled them up and sent them into the yard. When I opened the sliding glass door to my porch, I noticed that a bird was stuck in there. He was banging into all of the screens, and you could tell he was very nervous. I told the kids to come and see, and they immediately thought up a plan to find worms to feed to him.

I was quite suprised to see the amount of worms that they found. They named them all too...Big Papa, Slimey, Squirmy, Little Baby, Sally...the list goes on, I just don't remember them all.

Fast forward to dinner. Brett was in the bathroom and Ryan said, "Oh, we have to ask Brett if that worm is still in his coat pocket." When Brett came back to the table, we asked him, and he said, "Yeah, I didn't take it out. I want to keep it forever." Sorry buddy, but that's not going to happen.

I actually forgot about it until I started to clear off the table, and Brett walked into the kitchen with the dead worm in his hand, and here is his recap of the whole story...



I love how Ryan is so sympathetic! I guess I'm laughing pretty good too! :)

Brett has always loved little creatures, but let's keep those little creatures outside, and definitely out of the pockets of our clothes! :)

Dear Mom

I was sitting down to right my mom a thank-you note, and I decided that I wanted to post it here instead. She is one of my "regulars" who reads my blog faithfully, so I know she'll be one of the first to read it, and I also just felt like I wanted to publicly express how I feel about her ~ so everyone knows what an awesome mom I have!!!




Dear Mom,

I just wanted to take a minute to tell you thanks for everything that you do for me. Thanks for being so faithful. You are ALWAYS there for me. If it's not the everyday phone call at about 7:30 a.m. to say good morning, then it's the twelve phone calls that I make to you throughout the day - to get me through! :)

You're there to laugh with me through the good times, and your there to help me when I'm going through the not-so-good times. Take Friday for instance, you knew that it was going to be "one of those days," and pushed me to get out of the house and come visit you! What a GREAT day it turned out to be! ;)

We have so much fun when we are together, laughing and joking! I'm just so thankful to have such a good friend and mother all rolled into one!

So thanks, mom. For EVERYTHING!!! You are the best, and if I can be half the mom that you are to me, to my own kids - I'll have done a great job! I love you!!

I GOT DUMPED!!!

Jen over at 4tunate is hosting a contest call I GOT DUMPED!! You basically dump the pictures that are on your camera right now, and then right a post about it. So here goes...


For this one, I told everyone to make a silly face...little did I know that everyone had their eyes crossed!;) Owen is looking at them like they're crazy!



And this one, Chloe yelled to me, "Mom come quick it's an emergency!" I ran to the stairs to find this! The boys with the Nerf guns, and Chloe with her pretend gun!



And this one is just funny to me. Owen wasn't feeling good, so I took a picture of his sad face. That's not the funny part though - the funny part is Ryan in the background. He's either cleaning something out of his teeth, or making a funny face to the kids. I didn't notice this until I uploaded it just now! :)


Thanks Jen for the great contest! It was alot of fun! :) Hopefully I win!

No Smoking!!!

My hubby, had smoked since he was 15 - probably only a few a day at that age, but smoked nonetheless. He had always said that when we had kids he was going to quit. Well, each kids births came and went, and he still smoked. He knew in his head that he wanted to quit, but he just couldn't get past the mind game. He had tried numerous times to quit, but in his own words, "I just love it so much!"

April 9, 2007 - Exactly one year ago - Ryan came home from work, and said "I don't have any smokes, and I don't want to talk about it!" Well, O.K. then! :) I didn't harass him about it, and just let him be. He wrote out all of the reasons for quitting, and kept it in his pocket. Every time he had the urge to smoke, he pulled out the list and read it! That helped alot, and so did the Werther's caramels! :) Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and I'm proud to say that those months turned into ONE YEAR SMOKE FREE!! Let me translate what that means:

9,146 cigarettes NOT SMOKED

$1,486.23 money saved

(I got this info. from quitmeter.com )

Holy Smokes that is alot of money, and alot of cigarettes! I can't imagine what 15 years is going to look like! :)

I just wanted to say how proud I am of you honey for being able to stay committed to quitting smoking! You're awesome, and keep up the good work!

Update on my Uncle Rich...

Sorry I haven't been able to update sooner, but we have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

We had Talon's birthday party yesterday, and when I got to my sister's house, she ran out the door, and said that Uncle Rich's surgery went GREAT! The doctor's said that it couldn't have gone more smoothly. My Uncle rich was doing GREAT too! :) What an answer to prayer. God is good!!! Thanks for your prayers!! I'll keep you updated!

My Aunt and Uncle

(My mom, my Uncle Rich and my Aunt Jerri ~ Christmas 2007)

Around about Christmas, my Aunt Jerri got sick ~ VERY sick. About a month later, she was diagnosed with cancer of the gall bladder and I think the liver. They couldn't do chemotherapy and told her that they couldn't cure her, but they would do everything in their power to make her comfortable. She went through 30 days of radiation, and they said that it didn't help. She's doing pretty good now - she has her good days and her bad days. She is 82.

Tonight, me, Chloe, my mom and a bunch of my cousins and a couple of Aunts and Uncles went to my Aunt's house to play games and just hang out for awhile. Thankfully she was having a good day! We were sitting around getting ready to play a game, when my other Aunts cell phone rang.

Let me back up a bit. My Uncle, Rich, has diabetes, and bad kidneys and goes to dialysis once a week. A couple of weeks ago, when he went to dialysis, they put the needle in the wrong place, and he ended up with a hematoma in his arm. His arm basically burst open, I know, pretty gross, but this is what happened. He joked about how is arm looked like Popeye's! He was talking tonight that he was going to need surgery on his arm. About 30 minutes later, my Aunt Monty's(Rich's wife) cell phone rang. It was the University of Chicago. They have a kidney for my Uncle. I cannot begin to tell you about the chills that ran through my body. I immediately began to pray. She went into the basement (so she could hear) to get all of the information, and then came upstairs to tell us the good news! The kidney was coming from Wisconsin, so they had to head home, pack some bags, and then call them in 30 minutes. We all gathered around and prayed for him. An hour or so later, my cousin Kim (Rich's daughter) called and said that they were on their way to the hospital and that surgery was going to be at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow!

This is all just bittersweet for me. Here I have an Aunt who is essentially dying, and an Uncle who may be getting a start at a new life tomorrow! He's been waiting for a new kidney for 5 years.

Please keep both my Aunt and my Uncle in your prayers. They are both so special to me, and we have had so many good times with them! Also keep the donors family in your prayers, because I'm sure that their hearts are breaking, because they just lost a loved one.

**I've made mention of this blog before, but I want to mention it again, because I think it really pertains to this post. Check it out!**

One day I'm going to miss this

I've heard alot lately (usually when I'm near my break-down point)that before I know it, the kids are going to be old and out of the house. In fact, just last night, my family was at my sister's house for dinner, and she said, "One day, we're going to miss this!" My husband even made mention to the fact that we can carry on with a conversation with six kids running and screaming around, and it doesn't even phase us ~ we just tune it out.

It's true ~ I'm positive that I will miss all of the chaos, but also all the good times too! I'm not so sure I'll miss all of the the times that my boys are just behaving like boys...I'll definitely miss teaching Chloe all of her memory verses for school...I can't imagine not going to pumpkin patches with the kids each fall...I can definitely do with out all the trips to the E.R. I can go on and on, but you get the idea ~ and thankfully I'm keeping a blog to remember all of this stuff! :)

But, one thing I know for sure, I am NOT going to miss the endless mounds of laundry...