Surprised

I have to say every now and again my beloved does surprise me. I think I mentally tend to give him a bad rap with helping out around the house. We've had lots of conversations over the years, as this starts to be a sore spot for me now and again. He just isn't a natural servant and has blinders on when he is home. I have really struggled with cleaning the house, not just picking up, since Katie came and school started. When I ran out for a quick shopping trip in town this weekend he mopped my floors for me! I had been thinking I would stay up late and get it taken care of and my beloved did it for me. It was a true blessing and the best part is I didn't have to say anything - he just did it on his own. Wonder if that speaks to the true condition of my floors? :) Oh well, we'll just be thankful!

Neglectful

I have been neglectful about getting some pictures up of the kids' recently so we'll be loading this one up a little :) We have been doing well, keeping busy with school, dance and church. The kids' have also been struggling with colds. This is the second one within a months time which is unusual. Isaiah went down first and now Kiersten is struggling through it. We'll just pray Katie avoids this one as well. In light of how the little ones are feeling today is a movie day. We went to the doctor's office this morning for Katie's 4 month check-up and Kiersten's yearly check-up. Both girls look good and are growing well :) The Katie girl is hanging out below in one of her favorite toys smiling like a loon. :)
School time is going more smoothly for me. I am getting into the routine. My only obstacle is Katie. She hasn't been taking long naps, just small catnaps every few hours. This only frees me up for 40minutes or so here and there. She does well until she gets tired and then it is holding time or feeding time. I definitely forgot how much work babies are. Love them as you do they just really take up a lot of time. Anyhow, back to school time. So the picture of Kiersten is with some flowers we purchased for the things we are learning in science. She has been doing a lot with flowers and plants. We bought the roses to get a better look at the parts of a flower. I only needed one, but the price difference between one rose and the bouquet was so small I thought it would be worth it to see my princess smile. Which she most certainly did!Right now we are growing bean plants in jars. We'll be transplanting those in a few days and then we'll be running some experiments with them. I'll have to take a picture of two of Kiersten's nature diary. It is just precious :)

We have taken a few family trips around the area the last few weekends. We were headed out to our favorite pumpkin patch 2 weeks ago only to find it was for sale! We were really bummed. Since we were already out and had promised some fun we decided to head over to an apple orchard. This picture shows the 3 trouble makers in the 'apple tree'. It ended up being a lovely morning playing outside and getting some pumpkins and apples. We have since decorated our pumpkins (picture coming soon!) with paint. I think we'll have to head to an orchard next year where the kids' can pick the apples themselves.
Then this past weekend we headed out to a pumpkin fest at a nearby town. It was really a nice time as the kids' and I needed to get out of the house. Wouldn't you know it though my camera batteries died after only a few pictures!!! So frustrating. I think I need to buy another set and keep them in the camera case so this ceases to be a problem for me. Luckily I did manage to get a few pictures as the kids' were feeding the animals. Isaiah was giggling so hard when the goats or llamas would come attack his hand. I tell you that laugh is just precious. Kiersten isn't so fond of the pushy animals and always tries to feed the babies. She isn't quick enough usually and the older ones butt in to steal the food. The two of them also did a little pony ride and when they were done my beloved said Isaiah went, "Yay! I winned!" What little nuts. We then managed to go on a horse cart ride and grab a few treats. The weather was nice fall weather - little crisp, but not too cold.So we are looking ahead to Halloween and jumping in the leaves outside. I'll be posting more pictures here soon of the pumpkins and the kids'. Love to all my family and friends and have a blessed day!

Tag You Are It!

I don't know how this all works, but I'll just go along :) My dear friend Margie tagged me a few days ago and I've been thinking on what 7 things I could share that wouldn't completely bore people to tears. Here we go....

1. I am deaf in my right ear and partially deaf in my left ear. No news to my family, but a few friends weren't aware of this. I had a hole in my inner ear as a child and thus complete hearing lose in the right ear. It definitely made for some interesting balancing issues as a child that unfortunately didn't cease to exist even though the hole is no more! :) Perhaps that just pure clumsiness.

2. I have groves in my tonsils that of late have been wrecking havoc in my throat. Just this year has this been a problem. These grooves can act as a catch all for things that should be going directly down my throat, stopping no where in between. Nevertheless things get caught and form these icky balls of white in the back of my throat. I can pop them out using a q-tip and away they go. Hopefully as time goes on I won't be so groovy. :) Aren't you sooooo glad I shared that? And then doubly glad you don't have to kiss me?

3. My Mom works overseas with a company that services the troops. I am going to cheat a little and share an interesting something about her! She has been able to work closely with some of the major players in the war. She has a picture of her and General David Petraeus as well as one with her and Dick Cheney. Believe it or not my 5' 7" mother is taller than Dick by a good few inches!

4. I spent 10 weeks or so the summer of 1999 in Kenya working with Africa Inland Missions. I lived with a local family and taught in the elementary schools there. I taught math, science and Christian/Religious education. Where we were they was no running water and no electricity. I went to the bathroom in a fancy port-o-potty, you know a simple whole in the floor over a dug out pit. I bathed each day using a small amount of water in a container - sponge bath really. Although I have to say I did manage to keep my legs shaved the entire time I was there! :) It was an awesome experience.

5. I want have 4 children. Don't ask, I can't explain. I simply want to have an even number of children. So when we decided to have #3 I said there must be a #4. Interestingly one of my favorite cousins said the very same thing before I even told her what I was thinking :) Great minds think alike.

6. I love to read. Not so interesting, but oh so true. I tend to lean toward christian fiction, although I do read some non-fiction from time-to-time. Some of my favorite authors are Karen Kingsbury, Bodie & Brock Thoene, Beverly Lewis, Caroline Hart (Henry O series in particular).

7. I am a part-time chemistry tutor for tutor.com in the evenings. I know, a secret identity that has my loved ones shocked. :) It keeps me on my toes and helps me to not lose all that I worked so hard for in college. It is a nice change from diaper duty and little people chat. It has its moments though and can be interesting.

Well, that is more than enough info. Sadly after Margie tagged me and another girlfriend that left me with no one else I knew who blogged. So the game of tag stops here I'm afraid. If someone I love starts blogging I'll share the love. K, I need to run. The kiddos have been awful quiet and we all know that spells trouble. :)

My Very First Hickey!

The Katie girl gave me my very first hickey! She was sucking so hard on my thumb knuckle last night that she bruised me! :) Let me just say that I am thankful this is the only one I have received because they sure do hurt. I was lucky on the location too. :)

Left Out

Poor Isaiah. He is left out of all things girlie and isn't quite sure what to make of it. Kiersten started dance classes a little over a week ago and he cried when he couldn't go into class with her. He just simply could not understand why he wasn't going to do it too! So it is no real surprise he has taken to putting on some old dress shoes of Kiersten's to make 'dancing' noises and such on the floor. It is really adorable. He loves her so and just wants to be like her.

Then we went to a birthday party the other day and the girls', both Kiersten and Katie, received tutus and he a shield and sword. He was all into the sword while we were at the party because the other, bigger boys were playing with them. However when we got home he wanted to put one of the tutus on :) My poor husband has just been shaking his head each time Isaiah tends towards the girlie things. But the poor guy is mostly around the girls' and his idol is Kiersten. It is sweet and yet I feel bad for him at the same time. We'll have to find something he can do and enjoy without the aid of the girls'.

She's Laughing

There are so many firsts with babies but one of my favorites is when they first start to laugh. :) Katie starting laughing about 2 weeks or so ago. It still starts out kind of sounding like a cry and then occasionally it is an out right giggle. It is the most precious thing and you find yourself working so hard to hear it again.

She was on my shoulder yesterday looking back at Kiersten and whatever Kiersten was doing was making her giggle. I could feel it as I was holding her and it was so sweet. She was laughing again at Kiersten this morning while she was dancing behind my back. I think those two are going to be fast friends. I look forward to the many more times I get to hear that giggle whether I am the cause of the joy or not. What a fun and memorable first! :)