Pictures

Nathan is 9 1/2 months old now. He weighs 23 lb and 9 oz. What a chubs. He's so much fun. I don't think a day goes by that we don't just sit and laugh at him. He's always making silly faces or laughing at stuff that he finds funny. He has just started to pull himself up to standing. Last night Jeremy went into the boy's room to tell them goodnight and this is what he found. This is the first time Nathan pulled himself to standing in his crib. Nathan thought he was big stuff. He kept laughing. He was very proud of himself.
Jeremy preached last Sunday. Saturday was such a nice day that he decided to spend some time outside studying. Isaiah decided to join him.

Grandma Flo found this bike helmet for Isaiah. He LOVES it. he even slept with it one night. He's also loves his trike. (he sometimes calls it his motorcycle)

I'll try to give a real update soon.

Give your kids a hug

I'm sure most of you have already heard about this. I just can't get it out of my mind. It's been a reminder that I need to treasure each day I have with my children (and husband). Suddenly crying, dirty diapers, toys all over the floor and frustration are more bearable.

Luscious Lazy Lasagna

(This is for Jolinda and anyone else out there that likes lasagna -I love this recipe. It came from my mom. :))

1 lb hamburger
1 32 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce (I like garlic herb)
1 lb cottage cheese
8 oz sour cream
18 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 c. water

Brown hamburger. Drain fat. Add spaghetti sauce to meat.

Combine cottage cheese, sour cream and mozzarella cheese.

Spoon half of meat mixture into bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Cover with half the noodles then half the cheese mixture. Repeat layers and top with Parmesan cheese.

Pour water around edges of casserole

Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 350 for one hour. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Note: you can be flexible with the amount of sauce and cheese. This freezes very well.

Confessions on a lazy Saturday

One year ago today we were on our way to the beach with Jeremy's family. It's hard to believe how much Isaiah has grown in a year!

Today I am lazy. I can't get motivated to do anything, and I mean anything.

I fed Nathan rice cereal for lunch, and supper (mixed with applesauce because I felt bad for him.) Why so much rice cereal you asked? Because I'm too lazy to cook sweet potatoes for him.

It's 5:54 and I'm only half way though the one and only load of laundry I planned wash today.

I bought a loaf of 9 grain Italian bread yesterday for $.75. I bought it intending to make croutons out of it. When I got home I tried a slice. Wow. There is one small hunk left on the counter waiting for someone to pick it up and eat it. Who needs croutons anyway?

On a more positive note...

Jeremy has been telling Isaiah we are going to go camping. We planned to try it in our back yard last night, but thanks to a bunch of rain yesterday that didn't happen. Instead last night we set up the tent upstairs. Both boys were so wound up I thought we'd never get any sleep, but it wasn't too bad. I have to say even though I enjoy camping and hope our children enjoy it too, sleeping in a tent under a roof isn't that bad. We fell asleep with the sound of rain falling on our roof, not our tent. Nice.

Isaiah peed in the potty for the first time today. He knew I had bought "special candy" for when he peed in the potty. It worked. The problem came when he wanted more candy, but couldn't produce the needed, ah, stuff. He sat on the potty straining as hard as he could while saying caaaannnndyyyy!!! Have I ever mentioned how much I dread potty training?

Jeremy bought me a cool necklace and earrings for Mother's Day. (I picked it out, that's why I have it already. :))

We plan to put the kids to bed in good time tonight so we can watch Anne of Green Gables. Don't I have an incredible husband? Watching AGG is almost depressing to me at times because I love it so much. No, I'm sure that didn't make sense to most of you, but I understand it. I love the movie. I wish I could wear dresses and hats just like Anne and Diana. Remember what Diana wears when she comes for tea with Anne? Do you remember how you felt when you were a girl and saw it? Now that you all think I'm nuts I'll move on. Oh yeah, and Gilbert. Who wouldn't love this movie? And I get to watch it with a guy that is even better looking than Gilbert!

Now that I've wasted another half hour of my time I think I'll move on.

Shadowlands

Last night Jeremy and I went to see Shadowlands. It was put on by our local community theater. A guy Jeremy works with acted in the play. It was very good and gave me new things to think about.

One part of the evening that I found a little odd was that there were four or five seeing eye dogs there...something was said about dogs in training. I just can't figure out why they were at a play. Hmmm... I must say the dogs were pretty good. However, I've never been to a theater and heard dog panting while trying to listen to the actors say their lines. They didn't bother us, but it was strange.

Christmas in May

Ellie and Angel

Anna

Mary, Carrie and Laura...thanks to Grandma who made these "little house" dresses.

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandchildren. (Riah is holding Ellie -not a doll. :))

We had a wonderful week with my family. Highlights from the week:

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  Nathan and I drove to the airport of April 26 to pick up Brandon, Cindy and Anna.



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  We had a lot of fun watching Nathan and Anna together. They loved watching each other, eating sweet potatoes and Cheerios together, and playing together.



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  Brandon and Cindy stayed with us. We enjoyed staying up talking to them and watching Andy Griffith.



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  From Thursday through Sunday Matt's joined us and we spent the weekend at Jeremy's parents. They moved out and allowed us to enjoy their house for the weekend. What a blessing to all be together in a place big enough to hold us all comfortably.



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  The guys enjoyed a game of Frisbee golf. The ladies prepared food, talked, sat on the porch, talked, played with children.



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  We played lots of Blockus



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  Watched Ellie, Nate and Anna play.



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  Ate some incredible food



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  Enjoyed having Angel and Riah around to play with Isaiah. They were wonderful!



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  I was saddened by the fact that now that I have two children I do not have the time (or energy!) to pour time into my nieces. Even though I didn't get to spend as much time with them I did love being with them. Chloe is such a little lady. She cracks me up. Very independent. Angel and Moriah are not little anymore! They love to read and play games and help in the kitchen and are just very neat little ladies. Ellie is a sweetie. She wasn't too sure of all of us new people and a new house at first, but by the end of the weekend she was warming up. I didn't get to hold her nearly as much as I would have liked to. Anna is a doll. She seems to always be smiling. After they left I found a little pair of her pink socks they forgot to take with them. I think I'll just keep them as a little reminder that she was here. :)


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  I'm sure I'm missing some boring detail that I wanted to post here, but it's time I get off. Matt's went home Sunday morning, Brandon and Cindy on Monday and this morning Mom and Dad left. So life needs to get back to normal -somehow. I plan and anticipate these visits for months and then live hard for a week trying to capture every moment I can. Then one by one they leave and and life goes on. I know it wouldn't be special if we always were together. I know I need to focus full time on my husband, children and home now again, but oh it is always so hard to see it all end. Thank you Lord for an incredible family. Thank you for good memories. Thank for digital cameras that allow me to capture hundreds of pictures so I can revisit these memories again and again. Thank you for friends that read long blogs even when they have better things to be doing. :)

P.S. I guess I should explain the title of this blog. Since we didn't get together over Christmas we had a mini Christmas in May.

Monday Morning

It's Monday morning and I have a long list of things to do, but I decided to first take time to update this blog. (I tried to make that sound like updating my blog was a very important thing to do. Actually, I'm just being a little lazy)

On April 17th Jeremy and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. On Saturday we dropped the boys off at Jeremy's parents so we could get away together for a few hours. We spent several hours at City Park. We looked around the art gallery in the "mansion" on the hill. They feature local artists. We also spent time at the main art gallery in the park. Saturday was a beautiful day so we also spent time just walking around the park for awhile. City park is such a beautiful old park. After the park we ate a delicious dinner at the olive gardens. We finished off our romantic date with a trip to Toys 'r Us. :)

We have been enjoying beautiful spring/summer weather. Isaiah is enjoying his sandbox again. On Friday I put shorts on him for the first time this summer. At first he was a little frustrated because he thought he didn't understand why his legs weren't covered. I figured that would be a problem, but he soon got over it. Once again I'm very grateful for our fenced in back yard. He is already enjoying it a lot.

After several weeks (maybe months!) Nathan finally cut two new teeth. He is an active 8 month old. I can't believe the places he can get to. The other day he pulled a carpet sample off of our coffee table. I'm still not sure how he reached it, but when I found him he was playing with it on the floor. It is not uncommon for me to walk into the living room and not be able to find him right away because he's under an end table or back in a corner somewhere. He still is just sliding around on his belly, but is starting to try to get up on all fours. He is a constant reminder to keep the flours cleaned!

I'd better get some work done. I'll try to post some pictures soon.