melt my heart

Ethan's prayer tonight....

Dear God, thank you for my family. Thank you for my Mom and the sunshine, thank you for presents today, and thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
Amen

(Seriously, melt my heart! And...in my opinion, a pretty grown up prayer for a 5 year old. I love that boy!)

Christmas picture fun?

So I am sure that anyone with young children has had this same experience of taking group photos of them. I have decided it is virtually impossible to take a good picture of the 3 kids together. (You know, a picture that they are all actually looking at the camera and smiling) This year went much better than last year but it still took many takes to get a decent one. And without further ado, for your viewing pleasure, here are some of my attempts for a group Christmas photo.....

This one would work great if we were just going for goofy.

This one was really not that bad, but wanted better expressions on the boys' faces. They kind of have that deer in the headlights expression going on.

Grace looks like she has been drugged in this one.

"Owen....Look at Mommy."

This one is a real contender....wow this is going better than I expected!





Well, file another one in the goofy file.

Owen is not smiling, but he is looking. SO, AHHHH.....SUCCESS!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Love,

Katie

Friday night is pizza and a movie night!

So last year we started a new tradition at our house. Every Friday night, we have pizza (usually just homemade pizza) and watch a movie (kids' choice)....and their favorite part.....they get to eat their pizza in the family room. This is also the only night of the week that they get pop...which probably comes in a close second to eating their pizza in the family room.

It really is lots of fun...once I got over the inevitable spills on the carpet, hyperactivity at bedtime due to the pop, and the fact that I don't always love what they have chosen to watch, (Strawberry shortcake movies, and All about garbage trucks movies are just not my favorite thing to watch) It is something the kids look forward to, and as you can see...even Owen is having a fun time joining in, even though he doesn't get to share in the pop thing yet.

Note...please disregard the poor photo quality, the fact that I have not a stitch of makeup on, and that I am flashing a huge, cheesy grin. (thanks)

If this photo was a little less blurry you would be able to see that Owen's sweet little face has pizza sauce all over it. Gotta love the mess they make at this age!

Love,

Katie

The outfit.

I have been a total slacker when it comes to blogging. I don't know what my problem is...I just can't seem to find or make the time to update....but, today is the day!

Grace had her drug prevention week at school (in October....yes, I already acknowledged that I was way behind) and part of that was having fun dressing up (kinda like homecoming week...but not homecoming...and for elementary kids, not high schoolers) On Friday she was supposed to wear halloween or fall colors...so we had a little fun with it. Here is her outfit. She absolutely adored the striped tights! And any day that she gets to wear a skirt is a good day for her. (Funny, that is totally the opposite for her Mama!) Well, here she is....

And yes....I am a cheapskate. I sent Ethan to preschool the day before in the same shirt. I didn't get a picture of him though. (They are close enough to the same size that I thought it more economical to buy one gender neutral shirt and have them share.)

Love,

Katie

This one is for my mother

This one is for my mother. From the ages of about 11 to probably 21.....I swore that I would never be like my mother. Well, I hear quite often from my husband that I act like my mother. Today I realized that I had just done something that my mother always does that I SWORE I would never do. I decided to take a picture just to poke fun at myself........

That's right everyone.....my mother for as long as I can remember has rinsed out her plastic baggies, hung them to dry, and then reused them. I have been a loud mouth about this for many years. I thought it was ridiculous.....I mean really how expensive are little plastic baggies???? Seriously.....just throw them away and get new ones, right!!??

Well folks, as you can see from the picture above.....it's official, ridiculous or not......I HAVE TURNED INTO MY MOTHER!

Love,

Katie

P.S. - Love you Mom!

Peek-a-boo or Hide and Seek?

Owen was having a blast the other day trying to shut these cabinet doors on himself and hide. I am not sure if he was trying to play hide-n-seek or peek-a-boo, but either way he had Ethan and I in hysterics. If Grace had been here and not at school, I am sure that she would have joined in the laughter also. What a funny boy!

Of course, it looked like SO MUCH FUN that Ethan had to get in on the action too.

CHEESE!

These 2 silly little boys make my heart swell with joy......love them so much.

Love,

Katie

Pumpkin patch

We took the kids to Williamson's to enjoy their pumpkin patch. We usually try to take them to Carrol's pumpkin farm in Grinnell (which I would recommend if you have never been there...fabulous place), but this year we didn't feel like driving or spending money to get in. The result....we had a fabulous time at Williamson's which is about a 5 minute drive from our house. It was a perfect afternoon. The kids (and parents) had a great time. We enjoyed a hay bale maze, some farm animals, walking through the pumpkin patch, playing several games they had out, playing in corn they had in a small shed, and last but not least....picking out a pumpkin for everyone.

Grace and Ethan are racing to the maze.

Yes, Mom.....I am being SOOOO good!

Grace and Ethan checking out this lovely cow. I believe if this was a video you would here them saying something like.... "MMMOOOOOO, MOOOOO! Owen look at the cow! MOOOOO!"

Owen getting in on the animal watching.

Ethan having a blast playing in the corn.

Grace, posing in the corn.

Brothers.

Owen enjoying a ride in the wagon, through the pumpkin patch.

"Should I pick this one Mom?"

Grace posing again.

Love,

Katie

Family photos

Because I haven't blogged in forever.....this will have lots of photos and very few words. We had pictures taken of the kids and also of all of us for family photos. I am slightly ashamed to admit that Owen is a year and a half and this is the first time we have had a family photo taken (other than just snapshots.) So Owen will now finally be represented on the wall where our family photo hangs. Here are some of the highlights...... Owen wasn't in the mood to take pictures, so there are very few of him with a smile on his face.

Can you guess which ones are my favorites?

Love,

Katie

Stopping and taking the time to smell the "roses"

I was looking at these picture that I took with the kids the other day, and started wondering.... if not for the kids pointing it out....would I have even noticed this wasp that was so busy working. Would I have been like the wasp, and been much to busy to notice what was going on around me? And suddenly, I felt so thankful that the Lord has blessed my life with these 3 children, who make me slow down and notice all sorts of things around me. Thank you God for these 3 little blessings... and thank you for helping me realize how important it is to notice even the little things in life and be thankful for them.

Hope you all have a fabulous day, and I hope you are all able to slow down a little and enjoy what God has created.

Love,

Katie

Back to school

Okay so Grace actually started school on August 19....don't judge please. I have been neglecting my blog, but not my kids...I swear.

Grace is in 2nd grade this year. I thought this sassy little pose was to funny! It is so her. She HAD to wear this outfit to school. She got it from Justice (her new favorite store.) And it has been sitting in her closet for several weeks, just waiting for the all important first day of school. She had a great time on her first day, and came home saying "I love my new teacher!" I love this girl so much, and will miss her when she is gone at school.


This is Ethan's first day of preschool this year. He was 5 in July, so he could have gone to kindergarten, but we opted to let him have 1 more year to develop emotionally before he goes to school all day everyday. He is going to preschool at the Christian Church here in town. I am so excited about that as last year, we drove him to Altoona for preschool (awesome preschool in Altoona, but it was about 25 miles round trip to drop him off, go home, go get him and come back home.....so maybe you can understand my excitement that now I only have to go 8 or 9 blocks!) Yah for Mommy and less time driving! He did really well on his first day, actually way better than I was anticipating. He is my timid, doesn't like to try or do anything new kid, so I was pleasantly surprised when he walked right into his room on the first day and said,"Bye Mom!" So needless to say, I was outa there like a flash before he changed his mind about being brave!



This is Owen when we got home after dropping Ethan off on his first day.....he was not to pleased that I had left without Ethan. It took him just a little while, but I think he has discovered that it is fun to be home by himself and get ALL of mommy's attention.

Have a great day....hopefully I will be a little more timely in my posts from now on.....but just to be safe don't hold your breath while waiting for me to actually accomplish that!

State Fair 2010....nonstop fun????

Well, I decided I have ignored my blog long enough.....so here goes.

We took the kids to the first day of the fair. For those of you that don't remember....it was approx 350 degrees that day. We got there at 9:30 in the morning, and it was already so hot that just getting the kids out of the van and Owen in his stroller.....TJ and I were already dripping with sweat.....not fun. But, TJ had taken the day off, so we were determined to make the best of our day together, so off we went to enjoy the "nonstop fun" at the Iowa State Fair.

As you can see in this picture...we are all a little "moist." Ethan is cheesing it up for the camera. I believe he was posing in front of a large cow, but Daddy didn't get that in the photo.

Grace is petting the baby goat.

I am pretty sure there was a sign right above these rabbits that said something like...."Please do not stick your fingers in the rabbit's cage." (or something similar to that.)

Grace and I enjoying a moment with the sheep.

Grace and Ethan had a blast with these sheep. These sheep couldn't get enough of the attention my children were lavishing on them. (Notice how I am clinging to my drink....yes it was that hot. I thought I might dehydrate quickly if I parted with it.)

Ethan and his new friend "Mr (or Mrs...not sure which) Horse.

The boys and I looking at the very sweet little calf. Owen really liked all the baby animals.

This photo makes me giggle!

Owen was NOT enjoying the varied industries building....but Mommy and Daddy were enjoying a much deserved break from the heat.

That's right....Mommy and Daddy may be losing control of these little hooligans.

We made it about 5 hours at the fair in the 350 degree heat (no I am not exaggerating) with 3 kids, and spent a ridiculous amount of money for no longer than we were there. We definitely had fun, but.......... nonstop fun, now that's debatable.