A-dorable Giveaway

Head over to Spend Freely for an adorable giveaway of one of these diaper wipe cases!
I was thinking about making my own to be "thrifty" but I am all about winning a free one!!

I like them all! Which one is your fave?

Oh what a beautiful mornin'!

So, I was perusing facebook yesterday morning and saw that my girlfriend was having a yard sale today and wanted to know if anyone wanted to bring anything over to sell. (hmmmm...lemme think??!!) So, i called her and then proceeded to empty out closets, grab things off of shelves and try to find things to sell. I got my loot together and in the process made a BOMB of my house. I was able to reorganize some things and make room for other things since I was hoping to get rid of most of it. I also had a ton of Mary Kay stuff haunting me that I needed to get rid of so this was a perfect opportunity!

So, this morning I woke up, we ran the sale and after 5 hrs. of work, came away with $205.00!!! Not bad for a few hours of work!

I couldn't believe the stuff that people bought of mine and the stuff they passed over. Everything that I thought would sell, didn't - and the things that I just threw in to see what would happen - sold!

I was also amazed at the amount of elderly people that came and bought our stuff. You'd think that their houses would be full of enough stuff by now to have their own huge yard sale!

The Lord really blessed us! Between the 5 of us we made $700!

Have you ever heard of Just Between Friends consignment sales? They come to select cities across the county. I went to one as a buyer in the spring and they are so great! Ours was filled with tons of clothes, shoes furniture, anything baby or maternity you could dream of. Then on the 3rd day of the sale (when I went) everything is 50% off! I am planning on selling in their fall sale and I am interested to see how I will do with the leftovers from the yard sale.

I had hoped to make $50 today.

Eph 3:20 - I was blessed exceeding abundantly!!

Monkey see....

A little monkeying around on Father's Day. Nate was so excited b/c he couldn't do it when he was little. Aw...all grow'd up and climbin' trees. I *heart* my little primate! :)

A little summertime face lift

So, what do you think?

I have been trying for EONS to do something new with my blog and FINALLY i found a site that was SO easy to use. It's called Aqua Poppy Designs . I have tried Cutest Blog on the Block and others and this one was BY FAR the easiest to use and didn't lose any of my settings etc...

So, what do you think? What site do you like to use to change up your blog page?

I scored this dresser on craigslist for Liv's room!
LOVE IT!! It matches perfectly!

It's coming together!!


The sleeping papoose

Jehovah Jireh!

I just wanted to share a little blessing with any of you who are still out there...

I haven't blogged very much in the last year or so for several reasons. But the main reason was because whenever I would think about something to blog about, it would be during the day (when I didn't have a computer) and by the time Nate got home with his laptop I couldn't remember for the life of me what I wanted to blog about. More accurately, I would get caught up in Facebook and then be too tired to write.

So, onto the blessing...

A friend of ours gave me a computer. Yup. Just out of the blue. They knew that we didn't have one at home and they got a new one, so they gave their old one to us. It has a great big flat screen monitor and I am so excited to be able to google at will (is google a verb now??) about a myriad of things that may pop into my head during the day. I am hoping that now I will be able to sit down and write again a few times a week again!

I have found that with my new toy I have had to set up some "rules" for myself so I don't waste time and get sucked into the black hole of cyberspace.

1. Have I read my bible
2.Have I completed a major task
3. Have I spent quality time with Jackson and Owen.

Do any of you have parameters like this set up for yourselves? What are they?

Father's Day pics

I took some pics to make a collage for nate's office. I think they turned out quite well considering I abandoned the photo session at the store to try my hand at home!
see the rest here

Happy Father's Day, Babe!

The beginnings of Liv's Nursery

This nursery has been my dream since I was pregnant with Jackson! :) I have wanted this vintage/shabby chic look for such a long time and this fabric was discontinued. I tried to get it on Ebay but people were asking R_I_D_iculous amounts for the fabric.
I had heard that a friend of mine was redoing her daughter's bedroom which had previously been this Rachel Ashwell fabric. I called her to see if she was selling it and SHE WAS!!!!!!!!

This is what the Lord provided for me for WAY less than I would have been able to pay and without all of the effort of having to custom make everything with my mother-in-law.... all custom made by my friend...
- canopy/curtains
- 2 panel drapes
- a rug
- 2 lamps
- picture frame
- chandelier
- twin duvet (FOR LATER!!!! wahoo!!)
- 4 or 5 pillow shams
- a bolster pillow
- memory board
- 2 curtain rods with finials
- twin bed skirt
- and twin sheet set!!!!

and the angels (and shyla) rejoiced!! I'll post more as i finish.

I love this picture of my mom and I.

This is the bow holder that I made for Liv...i think she may need another. :)

You can see what her room looked like before when it was the boys' room here

Could I be anymore pathetic at blogging??

My excuse is 3 kiddos under three! :)

Well, 9 days after my last post, I gave birth to our BEAUTIFUL daughter Olivia Adeline. She weighed 6lbs, 10 oz. and was 21" long. Let me tell ya! This girl is delicious! She has slept through the night since the middle of her first week. She is 11wks old now and such a joy to have around! The boys LOVE her and comment to me often how "pretty she is mommy". They have been amazingly understandable of the time I have to spend with her. Jackson's only 'complaint' has been "why does she eat so much mommy!" (*as a side note, he thinks that I feed her with my belly button!LOL)

The boys are getting so big! Jackson is 3 now and Owen will be 2 in August. They both weigh the same but Jackson is a shy 2" taller than Owen.

Owen is talking up a storm! It's been so fun listening to him walk around the house all day singing "Jesus loves me" and "Happy birthday!" two of his faves! I just figured out the other day that he's been singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" soo cute!

Jackson has been a huge help to me. He is a great little guy who is a thinker like his daddy and talks to me all day long! We are praying that he accepts the Lord as his Savior at an early age.

Liv is so smiley! I have thoroughly enjoyed making hair bows, jewelry, decorating her nursery and watching her smile!! I love having a little girl! I may be inspired to open an Etsy store with all these fun creations!!

We are so thankful that God has entrusted us with these little gifts.

Spring Break with Aunt Jenny

And so ends a fun break with Aunt Jenny. She was here for Spring Break from Northland. A LOOOONG 20 hr. trip, but we are so glad that she came! I was hoping that Baby #3 would make its appearance before she had to go back to school, but - alas, alack - I am still great with child. No complaints though! As much as I am looking forward to meeting our little one - at least at this point i can't hear the baby cry, it feeds itself, and there are no diapers to change....so, needless to say, i am SLEEPING!!!!

Hopefully our next post will involve pics of our new little one...and hopefully we will have a name too! sheesh!

8 more days...

until we meet little baby #3! Maybe we will have a name by then! :)

Today

Today I was...
- the housekeeper
- the chef
- the discipline- r
- the laundry gatherer/sorter
- a jungle gym
- a horse
- a nose wiper
- a bottom wiper
- a doctor
- loved
- kissed
- a mommy.

I spent more time today hands on playing with the boys than i have in a long time. It was really fun (especially for them), but with just under 4 weeks left until baby #3 comes - exhausting!

We had airplane rides, horse rides (are you picturing this at 36 weeks??!), they tried to use me as a trampoline, they jumped on my back, slid over my head and onto the floor. They had a great day - and I did too. I love those boys!

Tomorrow I go in for an ultrasound b/c my dr. wants to check the blood flow from the heart that he couldn't see well at 20 wks. No worries. I am looking forward to seeing the baby! I keep reminding myself that as uncomfortable as the last couple of weeks are (i am blessed with pretty great pregnancies!) it's a lot easier while they are inside to get things done! :) I am looking forward to holding the baby on the outside though!

Nathan and I are still unsettled on names. I know - nothing like waiting until the last minute - except that i have been perplexed the WHOLE time!

We've decided on a first name if it's a girl, but not a middle name.
We've decided on a middle name if it's a boy, but not a first name.
Yup, we're in great shape! :)

O God You are My God

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1207023972#/video/video.php?v=120384530467&ref=nf

Click the link above to see Jackson Singing his favorite song...it wouldn't play here for some reason.

Update on Jackson

I couldn't post about Owen without doing one of my Favorite boy named Jackson!

Jackson will be 3 in May. Time sure has flown by! He and Owen BOTH weigh 27.5 lbs and there is only about 2 inches that separate them.

He is a great helper. He certainly takes on a motherly tone sometimes when teaching owen how to get out of his chair on his own, or when he's instructing owen that he has a bad attitude and needs to be happy! :)

He LOVES singing and this brings a lot of joy to my heart b/c i too love to sing. He has a really fun little personality (that can certainly switch to fiery at the most inopportune times!) We were in Target last weekend and he was happy as a clam that we were letting him walk beside us instead of sitting in the cart. He knows that if he touches anything or disobeys that he has to get in the cart for a few minutes before he can get out again (he'll even remind you of the rule). But this time he chose to SCREAM in the middle of the store for a few aisles. Nathan had a little chat with him, he straightened up, we let him walk again and then a few aisles later we passed a woman who encouraged us that we had SUCH well behaved kids... "there are other kids just screaming and screaming, but yours are so good!" IF ONLY SHE KNEW the one she probably heard was Jackson!!

He loves to read books and is doing quite well identifying letters in the alphabet in lowercase. We pretty much have uppercase down.

I don't have to dress him anymore. I lay out his socks, underwear, pants, undershirt and shirt and he goes to town. We're still working on getting his pants on the right way - he loves to wear them backwards for some reason. Last night i gave him a bath, dried him off and he ran in and put on his pull up, and jammies without me. He's really growing up.

Anyway, that's just a little about our little Jackson.

A few of my favorite things...

Owen with his Aunt Jenny

Owen is 17 months old now and talking up a storm lately. Jackson had a few words that sounded like the real thing "yo yo = yogurt" whereas Owen tends to say things correctly the first time...usually.
These are a few of my favorite Owenisms that I am not sure i want to correct yet :)

- Minket = Blanket (this is admittedly my favorite one.)
- Mote = Remote
- Momoof = Muffins
- Minkey = Monkey (his favorite sock monkey)
- Chicket = chicken
- Hup = Cup
- Handle = candle
- hackas = Crackers
- Hitty = Kitty
(basically anything that starts with a C or K he subs an H for.)

First Sled ride in our first real snow

Owen has been asking to sit on the potty, so i have indulged him.

Officially an Adult!

So, today I became the owner of a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. I was really hoping to make it to 30 before having to be inducted into the minivan club...but, here I am - a little uncomfortable, a little sad about getting rid of my Explorer but SO thankful for the Lord's provision in this nice van!! It was actually Nate's company car for the last 2 yrs. and since getting promoted he is getting a new car and we were able to buy this van, knowing that it has been taken care of so well for those last 2 years. It's had every check up, fluid change etc. it's needed. It's possible that we would not have been able to get a van so nice otherwise.

Reasons to be thankful for my minivan:
- I have little ones to pack into our new mode of transportation!
- You can fit a full sheet of drywall in the back (that's nate's )
- It gets WAY better gas mileage than my Explorer
- It's 10 yrs. newer than my Exp.
- It's very roomy and comfy
- It has killer windshield wipers on it!! You have never looked out a clearer window!

What do you drive? And do you think you'll join the MV Club someday? Never say never! I always thought I would be able to stick to an SUV...stinkin' gas prices!! :)

Disco Baby

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy 30th Birthday Nathan!

Well, WAY back in October, Nathan turned 30. We had a great day. I sent him on a scavenger hunt to find 30 reasons why i love him, we went for a long walk at a trail we enjoy, went out for lunch and enjoyed a nice time as a family. Here are some highlight pics from the afternoon!

"whoa whoa"

this is owen at the tail end of entertaining himself by running around in circles saying "whoa, whoa" and then "bam, bam" when he ran into the couch! He's turning into quite a character.

Highspeed Heaven

As most of you know (i chuckle as i type that b/c after a year of sporadic blogging, i am not sure who "you" refers to anymore) we have been without highspeed for over a year. This has lead to much frustrations when it comes to blogging, uploading pics and general web surfing.
Nathan's position has changed at work and this has allowed us to be blessed with highspeed again!! I feel like i have been reunited with a dear, old friend! I am looking forward to getting back into the mix.

I don't even know if i blogged that i am pregnant again. Nathan and I are expected to meet our new little addition to the family sometime in March (due the 24th). We are excited! There are certainly times that i look at my house, or hear the kids "fighting" that i wonder how i will manage 3 under 3...but, those days are not everyday and I know that God gives the strength that i need to get it all done.

So, this is my works of God Tuesday post! I am in Highspeed Heaven!!


Here's a pic...just b/c i can! :) This is my new little niece Avery Ellen. I got to meet her for the first time this christmas and she is a dollly..don't cha think!?