Easter

No time to talk....at Panera "stealing" the internet for a minutes since our internet isn't working at home. My wonderful husband and father-in-law are working on it but until its up and running again I'm a bit limited on my world wide web abiltiies. Though I do feel a bit better having just checked me e-mail, paid bills, and read through facebook while having a yummy lunch. I wish I had time to tell you all about Easter but I only have time for pics....must go get my hair highlighted! I usually get my hair highlighted when spring rolls around each year...something fun for the summer months...but the real reason is because Kreg's 10 year class reunion is a week from Saturday...yep gotta get that highlight!

Home Improvements!

I love home improving! At the end of June we will celebrate 1 year in this home. I have really enjoyed making this house into a home. While I dream of one day building a new house (that needs no home improving) there is something to be said for the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that goes along with home improvement projects. (It's almost addicting.) We started on day 1 by tearing one of the kitchen walls down and we've continued to slowly make changes. (inside and out) I'm only about 5 weeks late but as promised here are a few pics of our new swing set. It is yet to be totally finished but it has swings and a slide and well that's pretty much all that matters to the kiddo's.

My dad was a trooper that day. After working all morning on his own yard, he came up and worked all afternoon with Kreg. Thanks dad!

The next addition is that of the kids quilts! Check it out:

I'm so happy with the way they turned out. My next project will be putting decals of their names over their beds.
Another addition is that of our messaging center in our kitchen (complete with a decal of Prov. 3:5-6 I did on my cricut). This is a vision I was very excited to see come to fruition. Makes me feel so organized!

And our latest addition is that of a new oven! My wonderful husband found a fantastic new oven on craigs list for me. He was happy because we got a steal of a deal and I was more than happy because I now have an oven that no longer burns everything!! I can bake cookies again and they turn out golden instead of charcoal flavored! I guess Kreg must have gotten tired of eating my charcoal meals. : ) yay! Its got more bells and whistles then I dreamed of having and even does convection cooking (speed baking). I tried it when I baked cookies last week and loved it!

ps...Easter pics to come soon...

Life Update

It's been a busy winter. Sorry faithful readers for the lack of updates.
In February we welcomed our 4th nephew! Baby Bennet as Makayla and Aiden refer to him! He is a cutey and then just last week we welcomed our 3rd niece, Rebecca Lyn! (babies, babies everywhere!)
The kids with Baby Bennet:

Makayla is particularly one very proud cousin!

Sweet little Rebecca:

I must say it was fun to visit this time around and not be the one being visited! I am enjoying holding these sweet babies and then being able to hand them back to their mommy's! :) I know my time will come again one day but I'm really enjoying life right now. The kids are starting to get more independent and they are really starting to play together which has been wonderful! And now that its actually starting to feel like spring outside we are enjoying the outdoors once again and loving every minute of it. This weekend Kreg is building the kids a swing set! They are very excited (as am I). Between that, Aiden's new bike he got for his birthday, and the sandbox I have a feeling we could just pack up the indoor toys and put them away for a few months because the kids are going to live outside til fall!
Something we are seeing a lot more around here is Makayla playing dress up. She is most definitely our little princess and her love for shoes has continued to grow, especially princess shoes. And it really doesn't matter what she's wearing (sweat pants, footie pj's, jeans,) some sort of shiny are sparkly shoe is often an added accessory.

Just for kicks here's a cute pic of the kids water color painting the other day. They pretty much do everything together. If one does something then the other has to do it too.

My big winter project has been quilts for the kids beds. Yep that's right...Stacey the quilter! I've had a lot of fun making them too. I got inspired when I saw a boy/girl room in a pottery barn magazine but knew Kreg would never let me spend mega bucks on the kids bedding so I got really ambitious and decided to make 2 quilts. (a friend at church helped me figure out how to put them together.) So without further ado...here is Makayla's quilt:

And Aiden's:

There room is painted in a light green color. And if you notice both quilts are tied together with John Deere fabric (the John Deere green looks great up next to the light green of the walls). And anyone that knows my kiddo's knows John Deere is the perfect way to go for them. (Not sure if there is such a thing as a John Deere princess but if not then Makayla could certainly be the first.) I have finished quilting both quilts but have yet to put the binding around the edges. (That's next week's lesson with my friend from church)
Between the quilts, the kids, and studying and preparing to teach Bible Study each week I've stayed pretty busy through the winter and I'm looking forward to a relaxing summer outside watching the kids play! If you're lucky maybe I'll get a picture of the new swing set on here before they grow out of it! :)

The Big Birthday Party!

The big 2 year old girl in our home had her big 2 year old girl birthday party tonight! It was a great night!







We love you Makayla! You are definitely our little princess!
ps...the princess play high heels I got for Makayla didn't quite fit right. So she decided she needs different ones. How can I resist??? So tomorrow I'm taking her shopping for some heels to go with her new princess dress...Target here we come!

Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Makayla! She came out of her room this morning (after a 20 minute absence) and declared she was "All Pretty Now!" She then told me she needed to call Mamaw and tell her it was her birthday and she had presents. And also needed to tell her she had put all her hair bows on all by herself. Of course I could not resist but taking a picture of the birthday girl all prettied up on her birthday.

Stay tuned for pics of the big birthday bash tonight. Time for me to get busy....

Creating Monsters

So prior to Aiden's birthday party we were trying to keep the house clean and picked up before all the guests arrived. So the result was 3 children on the couch all playing iPhones! Yep that's right...iPhones. The boys can play unassisted...Makayla still needs a little help or she may end up making unwanted purchases on Pawpaw's phone. Makayla will also at random state emphatically to just about anyone..."I want an iPhone." And because of her amazing capability at annunciating there is absolutely no mistaking what she is saying.
So I pose the question....are we creating monsters?

I dare say we are!

Aiden's 4th Birthday

I never intended to just skip over Christmas in my blog posts but that is what has seemed to happen. One day I will get around to the Christmas pics, but not today because today is all about Aiden! My cute little boy turned 4 years old last Friday. Hard for me to believe he is already 4. After he turned 3 he immediately started looking forward to his 4th birthday. And now that he's 4 he is already talking about next year when he turns 5. My little guy just loves his birthday (I think he gets that from me) so I tried to make it as special for him as possible. The hard part was that its hard for a 4 year old to grasp that your birthday is on a Friday but your party is not til Saturday when everyone is off work. That was a tough one to explain. His big day arrived and we didn't have much planned because I was busy getting the house clean for the 30 people coming on Saturday. But with a quick and secret phone call to my mom we improvised. She met us in a little town about 15 minutes south of our farm at McDonald's and we had a "surprise" birthday lunch with mamaw! That was a big blessing. Aiden loved it. Mom brought balloons and cookies (complete with a lighter a #4 candle so we could even sing to him). And she gave him 3 of his birthday presents early. Thank you mom! Then I let him help me decorate his birthday cupcakes after his "quiet time" Friday. (Quiet time is now in place of nap time because he doesn't always need a nap. But everyday I get an hour to myself while he either sleeps or plays with a basket of toys on the guest bed) And when Kreg got home that evening we took Aiden out for ice cream. At the end of the day he told me he had 3 birthday parties and his big one was still to come! I was soo soo glad he felt that way. And his big birthday party on Saturday went great. He had his cousins there and lots of wonderful family. His big gift from us was a new bike but he's going to have to wait a bit before riding it with snow on the way.
So here are a few pics...
The improvised special McDonald's birthday lunch:

Cupcake making (or eating as Makayla thought):


And the Big Saturday Birthday Bash:





And this is what happens when I ask my hilarious brother to take some pictures at the party for me: