Adam Again

My Adam is a funny little man. He can wear on my nerves like no other (he will be 5 in two days!) or he can completely melt my heart. His latest thing is to get his bible and open it up randomly and say, "What story is this?" Most of the time it is one I am unfamiliar with, but he doesn't care, and insists that I read it out loud. Today was from Samuel. I read about 4 chapters out loud. He sits glued next to my side. We learned together how Samuel warned the people about the bad things a king would bring them, but the people wouldn't listen. They wanted a king so they could be awesome like the other nations. Enter Saul. He is young, fetching, and a head taller than the other men- I did not know this. Saul was busy looking for his family's donkeys that had escaped, but God had other plans. Saul is chosen to be the king, Samuel tells him to not worry about the donkeys, they have been found... but now Adam is concerned. Very concerned. All he can think about is the donkeys and wants to know where they are. In detail. Of course it doesn't tell any more about the donkeys. I hope Adam can sleep tonight.

Proper Gardening Attire?

I couldn't resist this pic of Adam in his Spiderman skivvies. This was taken a few days ago when it was actually warm out. He was happy to water the new plant that we bought, a Jacob's ladder. It will have blue flowers soon. I love that the kids love to "help" outside. :)

Springy Saturday

It was by no means hot out today (I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with socks and shoes) but if the sun is out, my kids are ready for bathing suits. They settled for bare feet and t-shirts. They used up almost a whole container of sidewalk chalk today.


My parents came over this afternoon, I just sat in the lawn chair and watched everyone frolic in the grass.


Abby is the best. There is rarely a peep out of her. She loves to play outside, especially on the swing or be pushed on the tricycle or pulled in the wagon. Grandpa has a much easier time bending over doing this than I do. So glad they stopped in today!

Landscaping Nightmare

I love my tulips, they are right in front of my house. But other than these tulips, everything is horrendously ugly. There are bushes that have been sheared into box shapes for years before we bought the house, and then there are the spirea bushes that I just have no idea what to do with. So I hacked them off. It is bad. I wish someone would nominate me for one of those yard makeover shows. The ground is so hard in front of the house that I would need a backhoe to really make a difference. So there is my whining for the day. I think I'm just going to go over to Luter's and sit in their gazebo and pretend I live there.

What We've Been Up To

When it's so nice outside there isn't much time to blog! The kids are out all the time, Casey says I need a laptop so I can sit on the porch and watch the kids while I blog. Now there's and idea...

Anyway, the highlight of our weekend was seeing Laurie (Casey's sis) baptized! It brought back a lot of memories because I was baptized when I was pregnant with Rachel. Laurie just has a month until her baby is here, we are all getting anxious to see her!

Tommy just loves his cousin Liam! Casey's mom, Sarah, and Liam came down to see Laurie baptized. Liam was so cute and smiley with the kids, they can't keep their hands off him.


Poor baby girl got plowed over by Adam on his swing the other day. Her lip is just a little swollen in this picture, but she always bounces back quickly. Her nose was bleeding and everything, talk about giving me a heart attack.


We were blessed with a bunch of hand-me-down girl clothes last week, unfortunately there were no boy sunglasses in the bag for Tommy, but he rather liked the flower shaped ones.


Rachel said, "Look mom! I look just like you! (because of the glasses and barette)" If only I was that cute. She is itching for summer vacation to be here so she can be home every day. Even is she doesn't look like me, at least she has a lot of my tendencies.


This is the one area of the yard where the kids can pretty much do what they want, so you'll usually find Adam digging here.


And here I am today at 24 1/2 weeks, I'm feeling just like I did with the other babies. I wish I could move her up a few inches to accommodate my bladder, but I guess that will never happen.

Mostly for Amanda

So there is some new growth in the new garden. And Amanda, you will be so happy to know that both phlox plants are there and thriving. I bought some cute little sunflower seeds to put along the fence, Abby helped me pick them out.



Here is Adam brushing up on his horticulture knowledge. He likes to look at the pictures of the butterfly gardens.

First Ride

Here is Casey gearing up to take his "new" bike around the block. He bought it this past winter really cheap, the people were moving out of state and just wanted to get rid of it.

It has needed a little work, so our friend Dave from church has been over a few times to help (OK, he did most of the work) get it up and running. It still needs new tires, but other than that it's ready to go. So after I pop this baby out maybe I can hitch a ride on the back!

Happy Birthday Barb!

This is my friend Barb. As most of you know, I grew up with Jenny and Barb and they have been dear friends basically since birth. Barb lives nearby, so she came over this past weekend to help with the whole bathtime/bedtime process. The kids love to read, and so does Barb, so they get along splendidly.

Have a happy birthday Barbie Ann, what's Matt making you for your birthday dinner tonight? :)

Another MOPS Outing

Yesterday some of the MOPS group went to a place in Bay City called Painterly Pottery. You can choose a piece of pottery from the shelf and paint it however you want, then the guy glazes and fires it, and voila! You get your work of art back in a week looking like a professional made it! We had a wonderful time together, and the church van didn't break down one time. Thank you God, because there were 3 pregnant women on that van, a bathroom must be nearby at all times.

Here we have Heather M., Jamie, and Stephanie showing us their creative sides.


Here we have Heather S., Tracey , and Melissa working ever so diligently on their projects.


Little Alex was a tired boy by the time we got back to the church. Becky made sure he was well cuddled while we were gone.

Funny Boy

This is Thomas. He is 3. He likes to crawl out of bed right after all the other kids are asleep and come out to the living room. "I need a drink of watah." Or, "I need my blankie put back on." Or, "I need to go potty" even though he just went 10 minutes ago. It is all a ploy to come and cuddle with his mother. And I'm OK with that. :)

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Today is my best friend's birthday! Jenny lives far far away in Arizona, but it doesn't really matter where she is because we will always be connected. We actually talked about being surgically attached at one point in time, but that never did work out. It's probably best because we are both happily married now.

I hope you have a splendid birthday today, and get that wonderful nap that you were hoping for!

Just my Opinion...

I don't think dogs should be allowed to ride on the lap of someone driving a car. I just got home from my class out at Delta. I followed a car that had a dog on the man's lap, the man was scratching and petting his dog as he drove. There are several 4-way stops along the way. I don't see how this man could have his full attention on the road. I know mine wasn't, I kept staring at the dog jumping all over the man driving. Why isn't there a law against this, or is there and I just don't know about it?

It's Molar Time

Abby FINALLY cut another tooth! She is 16 months old and has been getting by on her 4 little front teeth (2 on top, 2 on bottom) for ages. So she was really excited about this chip today, she guarded the whole bag knowing that I usually snatch it away quickly. There is always time for a picture, though!

Finally, Some Color!

This clump is always the first of the tulips to bloom.


The kids were so happy to play outside Sunday afternoon with grandma! Doing dishes doesn't seem like such a chore when someone is entertaining the kids and keeping them out of my hair!


And of course, the crocuses. I am waiting for Amanda to post more flower pictures, she said her daffodils are about ready to pop. Lucky.

We had a Date!

So Casey and I had a date last night. He acquired free (free!) tickets to the Newsboys concert at the Dow Event Center last night. I honestly didn't know who else was playing, and it didn't really matter, because we were going to see the Newsboys! We had a wonderful time. The drums were so loud I thought my pericardium might rupture. I jumped around more than any pregnant woman with a hernia should. The message of this concert was clearly "Jesus Christ is the only way" and I really felt like He was glorified last night. The crowd was full of people of all ages, and we all sang together our favorite songs... it was great!

Here is Jeremy Horn. He was really nice out in the lobby talking to people after the concert.


This violin player is from the band Article One. He was a ball of energy last night, jumping all over and playing at the same time. I wonder what he was like as a toddler.


This is the lead singer from the group Neworldson. I had never heard of them, but I really liked them, they had kind of a southern gospel twist to their songs, pretty high energy.


Here is Rush of Fools. They didn't do much for me, but the younger people in the crowd loved them. The message in their songs was really good, they were just too contemporary sounding for me or something.


None of my pictures came out exceptionally clear, but here are the Newsboys! I still miss the guy with the long curly blond hair, but these guys were fabulous as well.


This was probably Casey's favorite part- the drummer was wearing a seat belt as the platform spun around sideways. It was crazy.

Laurie's Baby Shower

We had a great time at Laurie's shower Saturday afternoon. I just loved seeing all the little outfits she got for her baby. I can't wait to see the baby wearing them! Laurie is doing great (she is napping on my couch as I am writing this) and just has a month and a half to go! I get to go with her tomorrow night to her birthing class because Dean has to work. Laurie is going to learn breathing techniques, and I am hoping to reap the benefits as well. I always want to hold my breath during contractions, hopefully I'll remember this information come August!

My Big Girl

Rachel went right to work making this card for me yesterday after she heard that our baby was a girl. She is very excited and will be a big help to me when the baby comes. Her printing looks better than mine does, and she did this all by herself, she only asked me how to spell "soon". Kindergarden has went pretty smoothly, I wonder what she'll learn in first grade???

We are Thrilled!

We had our ultrasound today! It was very obvious that it was a girl!!! This was the first time that we got to see a 4-D picture of one of our babies, and it was amazing. She looks like Adam and Abby, a nice round face with a cute little chin... I am just so excited. Everything looked normal, this baby is very low, just like all previous pregnancies. I apparently gained 8 pounds this month. Yikes, Laurie is not allowed to bring any more candy over to this house- ever! The weight gain didn't thwart my plans of stopping at Tim Horton's after the Dr. appt, though! I like to celebrate with a donut once in a while.

Yesterday my brother and his wife had their ultrasound, and they are having a girl, too! My mother is beside herself. Well, Casey is busy vacuuming, I guess I should go make myself useful, too.

How NOT to annoy your dental hygienist

1. When the hygienist is flossing your teeth, don't help her with your tongue. We are perfectly capable of performing this service without your tongue's help.

2. If you believe you are in dire financial straights and tell the hygienist you can't afford certain services, in the next breath don't tell her about the boat that you live on during the summer. That's when I stop feeling sorry for you.

3. Don't light up a cigarette in the dentist's parking lot on your way out...I want to run after you and slap you.

4. If your child (let's say around 5 or 6 years old) is bossing the hygienist around, don't side with the child. The cleanings only get worse if the child thinks they are the boss. It's actually best if the parent waits in the waiting room while services are being rendered. Trust me.

5. Don't refuse x-rays for fear of "glowing" when you leave the office, and then go spend a week on the beach in Florida... Let's take a guess as to which one offers more radiation.

Oh I'll think of some more next time I work. In the meantime- Happy Brushing!!!