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:

Cheap Entertainment

There is nothing like good cheap entertainment. On Monday the kids each wanted to play in the toy bins. They kept wanting to sit in them so I put the bins up on the couch, stuck them each in a bin with their blankey's, turned Thomas the Train on, and got a few things done around the house. It kept them entertained long enough to get a few items crossed off my "to do" list and it was also picture worthy.


Another day I let them go play outside. It took a little longer to get ready than it does in the summer but definitely worth it to see Makayla waddle around in a big snow suit!

Where to begin....

I'm overwhelmed...I don't know where to begin to fill you all in on our life. I've come to the conclusion that we have reached the point in life in which it is not going to slow down. People tell me there will be seasons where life slows down but I'm beginning to think not...not with little ones growing up quickly. This should be the slow time in life right....when I'm home all day...when the kids aren't in school yet so we shouldn't be too busy...Yeah Right...uh huh...I'll believe it when it happens.

So what have we been so busy with? Well since its the holidays there has been extra time with family and of course a fun Thanksgiving. There has been lots of extra shopping since Christmas is just around the corner and then both the kiddos have their birhtdays in January. Note to reader: I am by no means complaining about the shopping part here...just sayin thats all...If you know me then you know shopping is one of my specialties. We also remodeled our kitchen once harvest ended. It looks fabulous and I LOVE IT! I know have soooooo much more countertop space, new countertops, more cabinets/new cabinets!! And once again I must say thank you dad and Mark for helping make it all happen!
We are also very involved in our church. This year we started working with the senior high youthgroup. Its been a good thing but has definitely added to the busyness of life. I also teach a ladies Bible Study on Tuesdays. I have a love for deep Bible study and am so glad the Lord has given me this opportunity but let me tell ya....ITS TIME CONSUMING. Although I must say when you are willing to use your gift and willing to minister it does seem that God stretches my time and energy in ways I cannot explain. This year I'm leading a group of ladies through the book of Genesis...amazing study! And I am really blessed with a wonderful group of ladies that definitely put effort into their studying and come with very challenging questions. They keep me on my toes!
And then of course their's the kiddo's, housework, a husband who still works 10+hour days even though harvest is over, bills to pay, breakfast, lunch, and dinner to make everyday, a farm to discuss, a workout to fit in, and hopefully a shower to take,etc etc etc...To be honest I've been really struggling to fit bloggin into the schedule. Any of you regular bloggers have any suggestions??
So now that I've laid all my excuses out on the table for why I haven't blogged in like 10 years, I'll share a hodge podge of pictures:
The kids sitting at our new bar in the kitchen!

A few snapshots of our Thanksgiving down at my mom's house. the kids had a great time with their cousins.



A before and after of our newly remodeled kitchen. The red wall was made into a half wall back in July when we moved in. Then we waited til after harvest to do the rest. The kitchen is now open to the rest of the house.


And a few pics we took last night when the kids decided they wanted to "say cheese" before going to bed. Pretty sure they were just stalling but I didn't mind since they were willing to smile. You can see our lovely Christmas tree in the background.